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LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES 


CONTAINING 


SKETCHES, 
\ 

BIOGBAPHIOAL,  PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL, 


CxxiilsiiJ  furr  fyt 


I860. 


BY     D.    W.    BAE  T  L  E  T  T. 


NEW  YORK: 

A.  B.  BURDICK,  PUBLISHER, 


8    SPRUCE    STREET. 
1859. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
A.   B.   BURDICK, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


W.  H.  TISSOH,  Stereotypes  >iio.  RUMSLL  &  Co.,  Printer!. 


' 


PREFACE. 


THE  sketches  in  this  volume  vary  in  length  and  minuteness, 
not  from  a  disposition,  on  my  part,  to  withhold  facts,  but 
because  a  few  of  my  subjects  are  too  cautious  to  allow  their 
private  history  to  go  before  the  public  ;  nevertheless,  the 
work  contains  full  and  accurate  details  of  the  private  and 
public  history  of  our  "PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES" — not  one 
of  whom  has  any  idea  of  the  position  I  have  assigned 
him. 

In  selecting  candidates,  of  course,  I  have  followed  my 
own  judgment — had  I  made  use  of  everybody's,  I  might  fill 
a  dozen  volumes.  I  have  sketched  the,  prominent  men  who 
have  been  named  in  connection  with  the  Presidency  in  1860. 
Messrs.  Buchanan  and  Pierce  I  have  passed  over  as  men  who 
have  gone  through  a  campaign — and  through  a  Presidential 
term — and  the  people  know  them.  It  is  the  men  who 
have  not  run  the  race  for  Presidential  honors — the  new 
men — of  whom  the  public  would  learn  something,  or  I  have 


IV  PEEFACE. 

made  a  mistake  in  writing  this  book.  The  general  reader 
will  easily  find  in  the  volume  the  position  of  any  candidate 
on  the  issues  of  the  day  ;  and  possibly,  beside,  interesting 
personal  details  which  show  the  character  of  the  man. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


PA<M 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,       .        .......        1 

n. 

STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .51 

m. 

SALMON  P.  CHASE, 95 

IT. 
EDWARD  BATES, «...     118 

V. 

DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON, 127 

VL 
JOHN  BELL, •     .  150 

vn. 

JOHN  P.  HALE, .        .    161 

vm. 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS,         .......    179 

IX. 
N.  P.  BANKS,     .  198 


VI  CONTENTS. 

X. 

PACK 

JOSEPH  LANE,   . 205 

XI. 
JOHN  MCLEAN, 218 

XII. 
HENRY  A.  WISE, 233 

XIII. 
R.  M.  T.  HUNTER,      .  244 

XIV. 
HENRY  WILSON, 251 

XV. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 295 

XVI. 
JAMES  L.  ORR, 305 

XVII. 
JOHN  MINOR  BOTTS, 816 

xvm. 

JAMES  H.  HAMMOND, 822 

XIX. 
HOWELL  COBB, 833 

XX. 

JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDQE, 836 

XXI. 
JOHN  C.  FREMONT, 846 


PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES. 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWARD. 

THE  stranger  who  enters  the  hall  of  the  United 
States  Senate  and  casts  his  eye  over  the  array  of  sen- 
ators, will  be  not  a  little  surprised,  possibly  somewhat 
amused,  when  William  H.  Seward  is  pointed  out  to 
him.  Accustomed  to  think  of  Mr.  Seward  as  one  of  the 
greatest  men  in  the  country,  a  first-class  statesman, 
as  well  as  orator — for  he  has  read,  not  heard,  his 
numberless  speeches  upon  the  subjects  of  the  day — 
he  expected  to  find  a  gentleman  of  imposing  aspect, 
to  discover  the  impressive  appearance  which  awes 
the  stranger,  or  the  audience.  But,  instead  of  this, 
he  finds  a  quiet  man,  sitting  in  his  seat,  listening 
with  imperturbable  calmness,  to  every  senator  who 
chooses  to  speak,  however  dry,  however  provoking, 
however  stupid.  For  Mr.  Seward  is  well  known  to 
be  the  best  listener  in  the  Senate.  This  arises  from 
his  rigid  politeness,  if  we  may  use  the  phrase,  which 


8  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

will  not  allow  him  to  refuse  his  ear  and  eye  to  any 
man  who  chooses  to  speak.  There  he  sits,  leaning 
back  in  his  chair,  a  slender  man,  of  average  height, 
clad  in  simple  black,  with  a  singular  face,  grey  eyes, 
grey  hair,  Roman  nose,  a  second  Wellington,  ever  in 
repose.  Who  ever  saw  William  H.  Seward  excited  ? 
He  is  never  to  be  provoked  by  friend  or  enemy,  and 
is  either  devoid  of  all  sensibility,  or  has  a  spirit 
which  can  triumph  over,  soar  above,  the  common 
infirmities  of  poor  human  nature.  We  have  seen 
Mr.  Seward  on  two  very  trying  occasions.  One, 
when  Mr.  Hale,  his  friend  and  seat-mate,  thought  it 
his  duty  to  severely  criticise  his  vote  on  the  army  bill 
(this  was  in  the  winter  of  1857-8),  and  in  which  cri- 
ticism he  was  very  .personal.  Mr.  Seward  sat  compo- 
sedly in  his  seat  during  the  painful  review  of  his  bro- 
ther senator,  and  rose  to  reply  as  pleasantly  and  as 
quietly  as  he  ever  did  in  his  life. 

On  another  occasion,  when  the  Senate  sat  late  in 
the  night  on  the  Cuban  bill — last  spring — Mr.  Toombs 
made  a  fierce,  and  we  must  say  disgraceful  attack 
upon  Mr.  Seward,  calling  him,  among  other  names, 
"  a  tuppenny  demagogue."  During  the  entire  ha- 
rangue by  the  Georgian  senator,  Mr.  Seward  twirled 
his  spectacles,  unconsciously,  and  in  his  reply  was 
slow,  freezingly  cold,  and  never  for  a  moment 
addressed  or  looked  at  Mr.  Toombs.  These  facts 
show  that  Mr.  Seward  purposely  refuses  in  public  to 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAKD.  9 

allow  himself  to  be  angered  by  personalities  or  to 
offer  there  personalities.  He  guards  constantly 
against  the  temptation  to  offend  in  this  particular. 
He  has  often  been  accused  by  ardent  Republicans  of 
lacking  courage,  physical  courage,  and  that  he  did 
not  reply  to  the  attacks  of  his  southern  enemies  with 
sufficient  spirit.  It  is  a  mistake  to  ascribe  this  con- 
duct of  Mr.  Seward  to  cowardice.  It  is  the  result  of 
deliberate  thought  in  him — and  if  it  is  mistaken 
policy,  then  of  course  it  is  to  be  set  down  as  a  blun- 
der, not  a  vice. 

When  Mr.  Seward  speaks,  he  again  disappoints 
the  stranger.  There  is  no  manner^  none  of  the  acts 
of  the  orator  are  to  be  seen.  He  leans  against  the 
top  of  his  chair,  and  in  an  easy,  conversational  man- 
ner talks  to  the  Senate,  all  the  time  swinging  his 
spectacles  to  and  fro  as  if  at  the  fireside. 

With  his  arms  folded,  and  leaning  back  upon  the 
lofty  railing  in  the  old  Senate  hall,  we  heard  Mr. 
Seward  deliver  such  startling  sentiments  as  these : 

"  I  think,  with  great  deference  to  the  judgments  of  others, 
that  the  expedient,  peaceful,  and  right  way  to  determine  it, 
is  to  reverse  the  existing  policy  of  intervention  in  favor  of 
slave  labor  and  slave  States.  It  would  be  wise  to  restore 
the  Missouri  prohibition  of  slavery  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska. 
There  was  peace  in  the  territories  and  in  the  States  until 
that  great  statute  of  Freedom  was  subverted.  It  is  true 
that  there  were  frequent  debates  here  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  and  that  -there  were  profound  sympathies  among 

1* 


1U  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  people,  awakened  by  or  responding  to  those  debates. 
But  what  was  Congress  instituted  for  but  debate  ?  What 
makes  the  American  people  to  differ  from  all  other  nations, 
but  this — that  while  among  them  power  enforces  silence, 
here  all  public  questions  are  referred  to  debate,  free  debate 
in  Congress.  Do  you  tell  me  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  has  removed  the  foundations  of  that  great 
statute  ?  I  reply,  that  they  have  done  no  such  thing  ;  they 
could  not  do  it.  They  have  remanded  the  negro  man,  Dred 
Scott,  to  the  custody  of  his  master.  With  that  decree  we 
have  nothing  here,  at  least  nothing  now,  to  do.  This  i$  the 
extent  of  the  judgment  rendered,  the  extent  of  any  judgment 
they  could  render.  Already  the  pretended  further  decision 
is  subverted  in  Kansas.  So  it  will  be  in  every  free  State 
and  in  every  free  Territory  of  the  United  States.  The 
Supreme  Court,  also,  can  reverse  its  spurious  judgment  more 
easily  than  we  could  reconcile  the  people  to  its  usurpation. 
Sir,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  attempts  to 
command  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  accept  the 
principles  that  one  man  can  own  other  men,  and  that  they 
must  guarantee  the  inviolability  of  that  false  and  pernicious 
property.  The  people  of  the  United  States  never  can,  and 
they  never  will,  accept  principles  so  "unconstitutional  and  so 
abhorrent.  Never,  never.  Let  the  Court  recede.  Whether 
it  recede  or  not,  we  shall  reorganize  the  Court,  and  thus 
reform  its  political  sentiments  and  practices,  and  bring  them 
into  harmony  with  the  Constitution  and  with  the  laws  of 
nature.  In  doing  so  we  shall  not  only  reassume  our  own 
just  authority,  but  we  shall  restore  that  high  tribunal  itself 
to  the  position  it  ought  to  maintain,  since  so  many  invalu- 
able rights  of  citizens,  and  even  of  States  themselves,  depend 
upon  its  impartiality  and  its  wisdom. 

"  Do  you  tell  me  that  the  slave  States  will  not  acquiesce, 
but  will  agitate  ?  Think  first  whether  the  free  States  will 
acquiesce  in  a  decision  that  shall  not  only  be  unjust,  but  frau- 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWARD.  11 

dulent.     True,  they  will  not  menace  the  Republic.      They 
have  an  easy  and  simple  remedy,  namely  to  take  the  government 
out  of  unjust  and  unfaithful  hands,  and  commit  it  to  those 
which  will  be  just  and  faithful.      They  are  ready  to  do  this 
now.     They  want  only  a  little  more  harmony  of  purpose  and 
a  little  more  completeness  of  organization.     These  will  result 
from  only  the  least  addition  to  the  pressure  of  slavery  upon 
them.     You  are  lending  all  that  is  necessary,  and  even  more, 
in  this  very  act.     But  will  the  slave  States  agitate  ?    Why  ? 
Because  they  have  lost  at  last  a  battle  that  they  could  not 
win,  unwisely  provoked,  fought  with  all  the  advantages  of 
strategy  and  intervention,  and  on  a  field  chosen  by  themselves. 
What  would  they  gain  ?     Can  they  compel  Kansas  to  adopt 
slavery  against  her  will  ?    Would  it  be  reasonable  or  just 
to  do  it,  if  they  could  ?     Was  negro  servitude  ever  forced  by 
the  sword  on  any  people  that  inherited  the  blood  which  cir- 
culates in  our  veins,  and  the  sentiments  which  make  us  a  free 
people  ?     If  they  will  agitate  on  such  a  ground  as  this,  then 
how,  or  when,  by  what  concessions  we  can  make,  will  they 
ever  be  satisfied  ?    To  what  end  would  they  agitate  ?    It 
can  now  be  only  to  divide  the  Union.     Will  they  not  need 
some  fairer  or  more  plausible  excuse  for  a  proposition  so  des- 
perate ?     How  would  they  improve  their  condition,  by  draw- 
ing down  a  certain  ruin  upon  themselves  ?     Would  they  gain 
any  new  security  for  Slavery  ?     Would  they  not  hazard  secu- 
rities that  are  invaluable  ?     Sir,  they  who  talk  so  idly,  talk 
what  they  do  not  know  themselves.     No  man  when  cool  can 
promise  what  he  will  do  when  he  shall  be  inflamed  ;  no  man 
inflamed  can  speak  for  his  actions  when  time  and  necessity 
shall  bring  reflection.      Much  less  can  any  one  speak  for 
States  in  such  emergencies." 

Tlie    Senate    Hall    was    crowded — the    galleries 
packed  with  a  dense  throng  of  men  and  womon,  and 


12  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  entire  audience  leaned  forward  to  catch  every  one 
of  the  words  we  have  quoted,  the  southern  senators 
smiling  scornfully,  while  some  of  them  were  speaking; 
yet  the  orator  went  on  as  smoothly,  as  easily,  as  if  he 
were  discoursing  a  passage  of  ancient  history  with  a 
knot  of  tried  friends,  instead  of  dealing  with  great 
and  living  issues  before  an  audience,  half  of  whom, 
to  say  the  least,  were  his  bitter  enemies,  eagerly  lis- 
tening to  convict  him  of  any  imprudent  or  unjust 
sentiment. 

Mr.  Seward  is  no  orator  as  the  word  is  ordinarily 
understood.  He  has  little  or  no  animation,  no 
address,  no  impressiveness. '  It  is  the  thoughts,  the 
ideas  of  his  speeches,  which  make  them  so  powerful, 
so  widely  popular.  Almost  any  one  of  his  speeches 
reads  better  than  it  delivers.  Mr.  Seward,  long  ago, 
must  have  lost  all  ambition  to  become  merely  an  ora- 
tor— if  he  ever  at  anytime  indulged  in  such  an  ambi- 
tion. He  speaks  not  to  the  few  hundreds  who  can 
hear  his  voice,  as  he  well  knows ;  but  to  millions 
outside  the  walls  of  the  Capitol.  And  so  he  studies 
his  speeches,  makes  them  truly  great,  and  worth 
reading  by  anybody  and  everybody,  then  commits 
them  to  memory,  and  recites  them  in  the  Senate  that 
they  may  go  with  the  official  stamp  upon  them  to  the 
millions  of  readers  in  the  free  States. 

Mr.  Seward  has  long  been  popular  in  "Washington 
— personally,   we  mean — even  among  his  political 


WILHtAM   H.  SEWAKD.  13 

enemies.  When  he  came  to  Washington,  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  he  got  a  pew  in  one  of  the  fashionable 
churches  of  the  capital.  Association  with  him  was 
then  thought  to  be  contamination ;  but,  long  since,  his 
hospitality,  his  high  mindedness,  and  his  charitable 
nature,  have  won  for  him  not  only  the  respect,  but 
the  love  of  many  of  the  citizens  of  Washington,  and 
some  at  least  of  the  citizens  of  the  far  southern  States. 
No  man  has  more  bitter  political  enemies  than  Mr. 
Seward,  and  no  prominent  man  fewer  personal  enemies. 
Those  who  know  him,  esteem  him  highly,  however 
severely  they  may  condemn  his  political  sentiments. 

William  Henry  Seward  was  born  in  Florida,  New 
York,  May  16,  1801,  and  is  now  58  years  old.  His 
ancestors  were  of  Welsh  extraction  upon  his  father's 
side,  and  of  Irish  on  the  mother's  side.  His  father 
was  a  physician  in  the  State  of  New  York,  of  good 
character  and  excellent  abilities,  and  his  mother  was 
a  woman  of  warm  affections  and  a  strong  and  culti- 
vated intellect.  The  people  of  the  little  town  of 
Florida,  generally,  were  natives  of  New  England, 
and  the  tone  of  society  was  what  some  would  call 
Puritanic.  In  such  a  village,  education  and  good 
morals  were  highly  esteemed,  and  the  young  mind 
would  be  naturally  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
great  truths,  of  morality  and  humanity. 

William  Henry,  while  a  boy,  was  noted  in  the  vil- 
lage where  he  lived,  and  especially  among  his  circle 


14:  PRESIDENTIAL,    CANDIDATES. 

of  family  friends,  as  a  great  student.  His  intellect 
was  thought  to  be  precociously  developed  ;  but  if 
such  was  the  fact,  none  of  the  later  effects  which 
usually  follow  unnatural  precocity  showed  them- 
selves in  Mr.  Seward's  career.  He  was  also  known, 
and  is  still  remembered  by  his  school-day  friends,  for 
that  frankness,  purity  and  gentleness  of  character 
which  now  distinguish  him.  As  a  boy  he  was  pure, 
and  a  brother  senator  remarked  of  Mr.  Seward  in  our 
hearing  the  other  day,  "  He  is  the  purest  public  man 
I  ever  knew !" 

"When  nine  years  old,  he  was  sent  to  school  at  an 
academy  in  Goshen,  !N".  Y.  At  fifteen,  the  pale,  thin, 
studious  lad  entered  Union  College  at  Schenectady, 
where  he  very  rapidly  distinguished  himself  by  his 
application,  his  brilliant  talents  and  the  gentleness  of 
his  character  and  disposition.  His  favorite  studies 
were  rhetoric,  moral  philosophy  and  the  ancient  clas- 
sics. He  was  a  close  and  thorough  student.  He  rose 
at  four  in  the  morning  and  sat  up  late  at  night.  It 
was  here  that  he  acquired  those  habits  of  continuous 
mental  toil  which  have  characterized  him  since  he 
came  to  public  life. 

Mr.  Seward  graduated  from  Union  College  with 
distinguished  honors.  Among  his  fellow-graduates 
were  Judge  Kent,  Dr.  Hickok,  Professor  Lewis,  and 
other  eminent  men.  Shortly  after  leaving  college, 
Mr.  Seward  entered  the  law  office  of  John  Anthon, 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWARD.  15 

in  the  city  of  New  York,  where,  as  in  college,  his 
unusual  devotion  to  his  studies  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  his  teachers  and  led  his  friends  to  prognosti- 
cate for  him  a  brilliant  future.  He  finished  his  legal 
studies  with  Judge  Duer  and  Ogden  Hoifman,  in 
Goshen,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  York  at  Utica  in  1822. 

In  1823,  Mr.  Seward  took  up  his  residence  in  the 
pretty  village  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.  which  to  this  day  is 
his  "  home,"  and  will  always  be  his  abiding  place. 
He  became,  in  1824  the  law-partner  of  Judge  Miller 
of  Auburn  and  married  his  youngest  daughter, 
Frances  Adeline  Miller.  The  fruits  of  this  marriage 
were  five  children,  one  of  whom  died  young,  another, 
took  to  the  army,  another  to  the  law,  and  the 
remaining  two  are  comparatively  young. 

Mr.  Seward's  personal  appearance  cannot  be  said 
to  be  prepossessing,  yet  there  are  fine  points  in  his 
personal  appearance.  His  ways  are  modest,  his 
brow  and  eyes  have,  however,  a  sleepy  aspect, 
which  has  been  fostered  by  his  habit  of  snuffing  and 
smoking  tobacco  immoderately. 

The  first  time  we  saw  Mr.  Seward  was  at  his 
home — the  pretty  village  of  Auburn — beneath  the 
roof  of  a  mutual  friend.  His  face  struck  us  at  first 
unpleasantly,  for  it  seemed  too  lifeless  and  expres- 
sionless for  a  man  with  so  much  mind,  so  great  an 
intellect ;  but  in  a  few  moments  the  clouds  passed 


16  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

off  and  the  clear  vault  of  his  intellect  was  open  to 
the  eye.  His  eye  grew  bright  and  the  fascination  of 
his  conversation  was  at  once  felt.  The  compact 
brow  expressed  power,  the  eye  genius,  the  lips  force 
of  character,  the  \v  hole  body  stately  dignity,  as  well 
as  frankness.  In  his  manners  and  conversation  both 
in  private  and  in  public,  Mr.  Seward  is  one  of  the 
most  natural  of  men.  Nothing  is  forced  or  affected, 
but  a  pleasant  negligence  characterizes  his  manner. 

Some  men  pass  for  great  men  because  they  are 
physically  great  and  dignified,  and  because  they 
utter  few  words  and  those  in  a  sententious  manner. 
Mr.  Seward  is  not  one  of  these  dignitaries,  but  has 
won  his  greatness  by  hard  work.  He  never  was  one 
of  those  brilliant  geniuses  who  suddenly-  startle  the 
world,  but  wrought  out  his  reputation,  and  earned  the 
honor  which  has  been  so  freely  accorded  to  him  by 
his  fellow-men. 

In  Auburn,  Mr.  Seward  has  long  been  personally 
very  popular.  His  position  is  a  happy  one.  He  has 
moderate  wealth — enough  for  all  his  wants — and 
there  at  least— however  much  his  hospitality  in  the 
Capitol  may  savor  of  splendor — there  he  lives  in 
plain,  almost  frugal  style.  He  has  for  years  been  a 
member  of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Auburn. 

Mr.  Seward's  father  was  a  Jeffersonian  Democrat, 
and  he  naturally  accepted  the  politics  of  his  father  ; 
but  not  long  after  he  began  to  practise  law,  he  left 


WILLIAM  H.    8EWAED.  IT 

the  Democratic  party  for  the  opposition.  "When  the 
Missouri  Compromise  roused  the  North  from  its  slum- 
bers, he  sided  almost  instinctively  with  the  friends  of 
freedom,  and  made  several  public  speeches  during  the 
excitement  against  any  compromise  with  slavery. 
In  1830,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  on  anti- 
Masonic  grounds.  In  1833,  he  made  the  tour  of 
Europe.  One  year  later,  he  was  nominated  for  gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  New  York  by  the  "Whig  party, 
and  was  defeated.  In  1838,  he  was  again  nominated 
to  that  office,  and  was  elected  by  ten  thousand  major- 
ity. When  his  term  had  expired,  he  was  again 
elected  to  the  same  honorable  post.  "While  governor 
of  New  York  he  made  her  respected  and  admired 
throughout  the  world.  He  used  all  his  influence  and 
power  for  the  repeal  of  all  State  laws  which  in  any 
manner  countenanced  the  institution  of  negro  slavery. 
The  law  which  permitted  a  southern  slaveholder  to 
retain  possession  of  his  slave  while  travelling  through 
the  State,  was  repealed.  A  law  was  also  passed 
which  allowed  a  fugitive  the  benefit  of  a  jury-trial,  and 
prohibiting  State  officers  from  assisting  in  the  recovery 
of  fugitives,  and  also  denying  the  use  of  the  jails  for 
the  confinement  of  fugitive  slaves  under  arrest.  The 
Supreme  Court  pronounced  most  of  these  laws  uncon- 
stitutional afterward.  Another  law  was  passed, 
chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Seward,  for  the 
recovery  of  kidnapped  colored  citizens  of  New  York. 


18  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Under  the  operation  of  this  humane  enactment,  Solo- 
mon Northup,  who  for  twelve  years  had  been  forced 
to  toil  upon  a  far  distant  southern  plantation,  was  res- 
cued and  brought  back  to  his  friends.  The  story  of 
his  case  was  published  afterward  and  had  a  very  large 
sale. 

To  crown  his  official  acts,  Mr.  Seward,  just  before 
retiring  from  his  gubernatorial  office,  recommended 
the  abolition  of  that  law  requiring  a  freehold  qualifi- 
cation of  negro  voters. 

The  governor  of  Virginia  made  a  requisition  upon 
him  for  the  surrender  of  certain  parties  accused  of 
assisting  slaves  to  escape  from  their  owners.  He 
refused  to  comply  with  the  demand,  upon  the  ground 
that  the  article  in  the  Constitution  authorizing  a 
demand  of  fugitives  from  justice  covered  only  such 
persons  as  were  criminals  by  the  laws  of  the  several 
States  and  the  civilized  world.  Aiding  a  slave  to 
escape  from  his  master,  in  his  opinion,  was  no  crime, 
and  he  did  not  feel  it  to  be  his  duty  to  surrender  the 
accused.  A  long  controversy  was  the  result  of  this 
bold  decision,  and  retaliatory  measures  were  tried  by 
the  State  of  Virginia,  but  Governor  Seward  remained 
firm  to  the  end. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Seward  defended  John  Van  Zandt, 
who  was  accused  of  aiding  the  escape  of  slaves  from 
their  master,  at  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent 


WILLIAM  H.  8EWAKD.  19 

arguments  he  ever  made,  and  lie  would  not  accept 
of  a  dollar's  compensation  for  his  great  effort. 

While  riding  once  upon  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 
Owasco  Lake,  the  friend  who  was  with  us,  pointed  out 
a  pleasant  farmhouse  as  the  scene,  a  few  years  before, 
of  a  terrible  murder,  and  not  far  distant,  in  a  lonely 
churchyard,  we  saw  the  graves  of  the  victims.  A  negro 
of  the  name  of  William  Freeman,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
was  sent  to  the  State  Prison  for  five  years,  for  alleged 
horse-stealing.  He  declared  his  innocence  of  the 
charge,  and  it  has  since  been  admitted  by  those  who 
tried  him,  that  he  was  doubtless  an  innocent  man ; 
but,  through  the  false  swearing  of  the  real  thief,  he 
was  sent  to  prison.  The  injustice  of  his  punishment, 
coupled  with  barbarous  treatment  while  in  prison, 
resulted  in  an  idiotic  insanity,  and  when,  at  last,  he 
was  set  free,  his  term  of  imprisonment  having  expired, 
he  went  forth  an  idiot — a  lunatic — with  but  one  idea 
in  his  brain — that  the  outside  world  had  most  foully 
wronged  him. 

One  night,  without  a  spark  of  provocation,  this 
wretched  negro  entered  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Yan  Nest 
and  killed  him,  his  wife,  a  child,  and  his  mother,  a 
woman  of  seventy.  He  was  arrested  the  next  day, 
and  such  was  the  terrible  state  of  excitement  in  and 
around  Auburn,  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
the  people  were  restrained  from  hanging  the  culprit 
up  to  the  most  convenient  tree.  The  negro,  idiot  that 


20  PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES. 

he  was,  confessed  the  murder  and  laughed  over  it. 
This  enraged  the  people  still  more,  and  they  clamored 
for  his  blood.  Mr.  Seward  had  acquired  much  popu- 
larity in  his  arguments  in  criminal  cases,  and  his 
neighbors  became  at  once  alarmed  for  fear  he  would 
defend  the  negro.  He  was  absent  then  at  the  South, 
and  such  was  the  frantic  state  of  the  people  of  Auburn 
that  his  law-partners  announced  that  he  would  not 
defend  the  case.  But  Mr.  Seward  was  his  own  mas- 
ter still,  and  though  he  saw  what  the  feeling  was,  and 
that  the  negro  was  sure  to  be  brought  in  guilty,  yet 
as  the  miserable  man  was  friendless,  he  examined 
most  carefully  into  the  case  and  came  to  the  deliber- 
ate conclusion  that  Freeman  was  insane.  Hoping 
that  other  counsel  would  appear,  he  did  not  offer  his 
services.  The  day  of  trial  came,  and  the  villagers 
hoped  that  no  lawyer  dared  to  defend  the  criminal. 
The  indictment  was  read  against  him,  and  he  was 
asked  if  he  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty.  The  only 
reply  he  made  was  "  Ha  !"  He  was  asked  if  he  had 
counsel — "  he  didn't  know."  The  poor  wretch  had 
no  idea  of  what  was  transpiring,  that  he  was  upon  his 
trial  for  life.  At  this  juncture,  Mr.  Seward,  who 
was  present,  was  entirely  overcome  by  his  feelings, 
but  he  in  a  moment  answered  : 

"  May  it  please  the  court :  I  shall  remain  counsel 
for  the  prisoner  until  his  death"  For  two  weeks,  in 
the  hottest  of  weather,  he  conducted  the  defence, 


WILLIAM  H.  SEWAED.  21 

without  pay.  He  was  subjected  to  insult  from  some 
of  his  old  friends,  and  the  feeling  of  the  town  was 
strongly  against  him.  The  well  known  John  Van 
Buren  was  the  District  Attorney,  and  with  the  pre- 
determination of  the  jury,  of  course  a  verdict  of 
"  guilty,"  was  rendered.  Mr.  Seward's  argument 
was  one  of  the  finest  he  ever  made.  Alluding  to  the 
unpopularity  which  he  had  brought  upon  himself  by 
his  course,  he  said : 

"  In  due  time,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  when  I  shall 
have  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  my  remains  will  rest 
here  in  your  midst  with  those  of  my  kindred  and 
neighbors.  It  is  very  possible  they  may  be 
unhonored,  neglected,  spurned!  But  perhaps  years 
hence,  when  the  passion  and  excitement  which  now 
agitate  this  community  shall  have  passed  away — some 
wandering  stranger — some  lone  exile — some  Indian, 
some  negro,  may  erect  over  them  a  humble  stone, 
and  thereon  write  this  epitaph,  'HE  WAS  FAITH- 
FUL.' " 

An  Appellate  Court  granted  a  new  trial,  but 
before  it  came  on  the  criminal  died.  A  post  mortem 
examination  revealed  the  fact  that  his  brain  was  one 
mass  of  disease,  and  nearly  destroyed  !  Mr.  Seward 
was  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  set  right  again 
before  the  people,  and  was  restored  to  the  old  place 
in  their  affections. 

We  have  noticed  this  portion  of  Mr.  Seward's  life 


22  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

because  it  effectually  disposes  of  that  cry  raised 
against  him  by  certain  persons,  that  he  is  a  dema- 
gogue. No  demagogue  defends  the  poor  and  for- 
saken, at  the  expense  of  personal  popularity.  He 
flatters  the  prejudices  of  the  people  and  does  not  go 
across  them  to  his  own  injury. 

Mr.  Seward  was  elected,  in  1849,  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  where  he  has  remained  to  this  day. 
His  course  is  everywhere  known.  He  was  a  Whig, 
and  is  of  course  warmly  in  favor  of  a  Protective 
Tariff  and  other  prominent  Whig  measures,  though 
he  subordinates  them  all  to  the  great  question  of 
Human  Freedom. 

As  a  Whig,  Mr.  Seward  was  the  friend  of  the 
slave.  He  opposed  the  famous  compromise  measures 
of  1850,  struggled  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  —  came  slowly  into  the  Eepublican 
movement,  but  when  once  in  it,  no  man  could  excel 
him,  and  few  equal,  in  hearty  devotion  to  the  party 
and  its  cause.  From  the  first,  he  condemned  the 
great  American  movement,  and  has  lost  popularity 
in  some  quarters  for  doing  so.  He  is  in  favor  of 
internal  improvements  and  a  homestead  law,  as  his 
votes  will  show.  He  objects  to  any  hasty,  irritating 
attempts  to  buy  or  take  Cuba — no  insults — let  every- 
thing be  done  fairly  and  gentlemanly;  and,  if  the 
pear  drops  to  the  ground  ripe,  eat  the  fruit.  Rut  no 
fruit-stealing,  or  buying  at  ruinous  prices  ! 


WILLIAM   H.  8EWAKD.  23 

A  friend  of  Mr.  Seward  speaks  of  Mr.  Seward's 
style  in  the  following  language : 

"  His  rapid  idealization,  his  oriental  affluence, 
though  not  vagueness  of  expression,  and  the  Cicero- 
nian flow  of  his  language,  proceeding  not  from  the 
heat  of  youth  or  the  vapors  of  wine,  but  from  the 
exceeding  fertility  of  his  imagination,  combine  to 
render  him  an  interesting  speaker.  Yet  his  enuncia- 
tion is  neither  clear  nor  distinct,  and  the  tones  of  his 
voice  often  grate  harshly  upon  the  ear.  He  is  not 
devoid  of  grace,  however ;  he  is  calm  and  dignified, 
but  earnest. 

"  His  style  is  elegant  rather  than  neat ;  elaborate 
rather  than  finished.  It  possesses  a  sparkling  viva- 
city, but  is  somewhat  deficient  in  energetic  brevity. 
It  is  not  always  easy,  for  there  is  more  labor  than 
art ;  but  if  the  wine  has  an  agreeable  fiouquet,  the 
connoisseur  delights  to  have  it  linger.  Like  young 
D'Israeli,  whose  political  position,  in  some  respects, 
resembles  his  own,  he  has  occasionally  a  tendency  to 
restore  declamation,  a  natural  predilection  perhaps 
for  Milesian  floridness  and  hyperbole,  and,  like 
Napoleon,  a  love  for  gorgeous  paradoxes.  But,  in 
general,  his  words  are  well-chosen  and  are  frequently 
more  eloquent  than  the  ideas.  His  sentences  are  all 
constructed  with  taste ;  they  have  often  the  brilliancy 
of  Mirabeau,  and  the  glowing  fervor  of  Fox." 

We  must  notice  a  few  quotations  from  a  very  few 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

of  Mr.  Seward's  most  prominent  speeches.  At  De- 
troit, Oct.  2, 1856,  he  spoke  upon  "  The  Slaveholding 
Class,"  to  a  mass  convention,  in  which  he  first  argued 
that  the  aggrandizement  of  the  slaveholding  class,  to 
the  detriment  of  the  rest  of  the  people  of  the  coun- 
try, is  a  perversion  of  the  Constitution.  He  then,  in 
a  masterly  style,  gave  a  sketch  of  the  condition  of 
the  country — showed  the  organization  of  the  courts, 
of  Congress,  of  the  departments — all — all  entirely  in 
the  control  of  the  slaveholding  class — and  closed 
with  the  subjoined  paragraphs  : 

"  Mark,  if  you  please,  that  thus  far  I  have  only  shown  you 
the  mere  governmental  organization  of  the  slaveholding  class 
in  the  United  States,  and  pointed  out  its  badges  of  supre- 
macy, suggestive  of  your  own  debasement  and  humiliation. 
Contemplate  now  the  reality  of  the  power  of  that  class,  and 
the  condition  to  which  the  cause  of  human  nature  has  been 
reduced.  In  all  the  free  States,  the  slaveholder  argues  and 
debates  the  pretensions  of  his  class,  and  even  prosecutes  his 
claim  for  his  slave  before  the  delegate  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, with  safety  and  boldness,  as  he  ought.  He  exhorts  the 
citizens  of  the  free  States  to  acquiesce,  and  even  threatens 
them,  in  their  very  homes,  with  the  terrors  of  disunion,  if  that 
acquiescence  is  withheld  ;  and  he  does  all  this  with  safety,  as 
he  ought,  if  it  be  done  at  all.  He  is  listened  to  with  patience, 
and  replied  to  with  decorum,  even  in  his  most  arrogant  de- 
clamations, in  the  halls  of  Congress.  Through  the  effective 
sympathy  of  other  property  classes,  the  slaveholding  power 
maintains  with  entire  safety  a  press  and  permanent  political 
organizations  in  all  the  free  States.  On  the  contrary,  if  you 
except  the  northern  border  of  Delaware,  there  is  nowhere  in 


WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD.  25 

any  slaveholding  State  personal  safety  for  a  citizen,  even  of 
that  State  itself,  who  questions  the  rightful  national  domina- 
tion of  the  slaveholding  class.  Debate  of  its  pretensions  in 
the  halls  of  Congress  is  carried  on  at  the  peril  of  liinb  and 
life.  A  free  press  is  no  sooner  set  up  in  a  slaveholding  State 
than  it  is  demolished,  and  citizens  who  assemble  peacefully  to 
discuss  even  the  extremest  claims  of  slavery,  are  at  first  cau- 
tioned, and,  if  that  is  ineffectual,  banished  or  slain,  even 
more  surely  than  the  resistants  of  military  despotism  in  the 
French  empire.  Nor,  except  just  now,  has  the  case  been 
much  better  even  in  the  free  States.  It  is  only  as  of  yester- 
day, when  the  free  citizens,  assembled  to  discuss  the  exactions 
of  the  slaveholding  class,  were  dispersed  in  Boston,  Utica, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York'.  It  is  only  as  of  yesterday, 
that  when  I  rose,  on  request  of  citizens  of  Michigan,  at  Mar- 
shall, to  speak  of  the  great  political  questions  of  the  day, 
I  was  enjoined  not  to  make  disturbance  or  to  give  offence  by 
speaking  of  free  soil,  even  on  the  ground  which  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787  had  saved  to  freedom.  It  was  only  as  of 
yesterday  that  Protestant  churches  and  theological  semi- 
naries, built  on  Puritan  foundations,  vied  with  the  organs  of 
the  slaveholding  class  in  denouncing  a  legislator  who,  in  the 
act  of  making  laws  affecting  its  interests,  declared  that  all 
human  laws  ought  to  be  conformed  to  the  standard  of  eter- 
nal justice.  The  day  has  not  even  yet  passed  when  the  press, 
employed  in  the  service  of  education  and  morality,  expurg- 
ates from  the  books  which  are  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
young  all  reflections  on  slavery.  The  day  yet  lasts  when  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  flaunts  defiance  on  the  high  seas 
over  cargoes  of  human  merchandise.  Nor  is  there  an  Amer- 
ican representative  anywhere,  in  any  of  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe,  that  does  not  labor  to  suppress  even  there 
the  discussion  of  American  slavery,  lest  it  may  possibly 
affect  the  safety  of  the  slaveholding  class  at  home.  If,  in  a 

2 


26  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

generous  burst  of  sympathy  with  the  struggling  Protestant 
democracy  of  Europe,  we  bring  off  the  field  one  of  their 
fallen  champions,  to  condole  with  and  comfort  him,  we  sud- 
denly discern  that  the  mere  agitation  of  the  principles  of 
freedom  tend  to  alarm  the  slaveholding  class,  and  we  cast 
him  off  again  as  a  waif,  not  merely  worthless,  but  dangerous 
to  ourselves.  The  natural  and  ancient  order  of  things  is 
reversed ;  freedom  has  become  subordinate,  sectional  and 
local ;  slavery,  in  its  influence  and  combinations,  has  become 
predominant,  national  and  general.  Free,  direct  and  manly 
utterance  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  even  in  the  free  States 
themselves,  leads  to  ostracism,  while  superserviceability  to  the 
slaveholding  class  alone  secures  preferment  in  the  national 
councils.  The  descendants  of  Franklin,  and  Hamilton,  and 
Jay,  and  King,  are  unprized — 


'  Till  they  learn  to  betray, 


TJndistinguish'd  they  live,  if  they  shame  not  their  sires, 

And  the  torch  that  would  light  them  to  dignity's  way, 

Must  be  caught  from  the  pile  when  the  country  expires.' 

"  In  this  course  of  rapid  public  demoralization,  what  won- 
der is  it  that  the  action  of  the  Government  tends  continually 
with  fearfully  augmenting  force  to  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
slaveholding  class  ?  A  government  can  never  be  better  or 
wiser,  or  even  so  good  or  so  wise  as  the  people  over  whom 
it  presides  ?  Who  can  wonder,  then,  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  in  1820,  gave  to  slavery  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  quite  up  to  the  present  line  of  Kansas,  and  was 
content  to  save  for  freedom,  cnt  of  the  vast  region  of  Louis- 
iana, only  Kansas  and  Nebraska  !  Who  can  wonder  that  it 
consented  to  annex  and  admit  Texas,  with  power  to  subdi- 
vide herself  into  five  slave  States,  so  as  to  secure  the  slave- 
holding  class  a  balance  against  the  free  States  then  expected 
to  be  ultimately  organized  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska  ?  Who 
can  wonder,  that  when  this  annexation  of  Texas  brought 


WILLIAM   H.    6EWAKD.  27 

on  a  war  with  Mexico,  which  ended  in  the  annexation  of 
Upper  California  and  New  Mexico,  every  foot  of  which  was 
free  from  African  slavery,  Congress  divided  that  vast  terri- 
tory, reluctantly  admitting  the  new  State  of  California  as  a 
free  State,  because  she  would  not  consent  to  establish  slavery, 
dismembered  New  Mexico,  transferred  a  large  portion  of  it  to 
slaveholding  Texas,  and  stipulated  that  what  remained  of 
New  Mexico,  together  with  Utah,  should  be  received  as  slave 
States  if  the  people  thereof  should  so  demand  ?  Who  can 
wonder  that  the  President,  Avithout  any  reproof  by  Congress, 
simultaneously  offered  to  Spam  two. hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars for  the  purchase  of  Cuba,  that  it  might  be  divided  into 
two  slaveholding- States,  to  be  admitted  as  members  of  the 
Federal  Union,  and  at  the  same  time  menaced  the 
European  Powers  with  war  should  they  interfere  to  pre- 
vent the  consummation  of  the  purchase  ?  Who  can  won- 
der that,  emboldened  with  these  concessions  of  the  people, 
Congress  at  last  sanctioned  a  reprisal  by  the  slaveholding  class 
upon  the  regions  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  not  on  the  ground 
of  justice  or  for  an  equivalent,  but  simply  on  the  ground  that 
the  original  concession  of  them  to  freedom  was  extorted  by 
injustice  and  unconstitutional  oppression  by  the  free  States  ? 
Who  can  wonder  that  the  slaveholding  class,  when  it  had 
obtained  the  sanction  of  Congress  to  that  reprisal,  by  giving 
a  pledge  that  the  people  of  those  territories  should  be  per- 
fectly free,  nevertheless,  to  establish  freedom  therein,  invaded 
the  territory  of  Kansas  with  armed  forces,  inaugurated  an 
usurpation,  and  established  slavery  there,  and  disfranchised 
the  supporters  of  freedom  by  tyrannical  laws,  enforced  by  fire 
and  sword,  and  that  the  President  and  Senate  maintain  and 
uphold  the  slaveholding  interests  in  these  culminating  demon- 
strations of  their  power,  while  the  House  of  Representatives 
lacks  the  power,  because  it  is  wanting  in  the  virtue,  to  rescue 
the  interests  of  justice,  freedom,  and  humanity  ?  Who  can 
wonder  that  federal  courts  in  Massachusetts  indict  defenders 


28  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

of  freedom  for  sedition,  and  in  Pennsylvania  subvert  the  State 
tribunals,  and  pervert  the  habeas  corpus,  the  great  writ  of 
Liberty,  into  a  process  for  arresting  fugitive  slaves,  and  con- 
strue into  contempt,  punishable  by  imprisonment  without 
bail  or  mainprize,  the  simple  and  truthful  denial  of  personal 
control  over  a  fugitive  female  slave,  who  has  made  her  own 
voluntary  escape  from  bondage  ?  Who  can  wonder  that  in 
Kansas  lawyers  may  not  plead  or  juries  be  empannelled  in  the 
Federal  Courts,  nor  can  even  citizens  vote,  without  first 
swearing  to  support  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  the  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  act,  while  citizens  who  discuss  through  the  press 
the  right  of  slaveholders  to  domineer  there,  are  punished  with 
imprisonment  or  death  ;  free  bridges,  over  which  citizens  who 
advocate  free  institutions,  may  pass,  free  taverns  where  they 
may  rest,  and  free  presses  through  which  they  may  speak,  are 
destroyed  under  indictments  for  nuisances ;  and  those  who 
peacefully  assemble  to  debate  the  grievances  of  that  class, 
and  petition  Congress  for  relief,  are  indicted  for  high  treason  ? 

"  Just  now,  the  wind  sets  with  some  apparent  steadiness  at 
the  North,  and  you  will  readily  confess  therefore  that  I  do 
not  exaggerate  the  growing  aggrandizement  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  class,  but  you  will  nevertheless  insist  that  that  aggrandize- 
ment is  now  and  may  be  merely  temporary  and  occasional. 
A  moment's  reflection,  however,  will  satisfy  you  that  this 
opinion  is  profoundly  untrue.  What  is  now  seen  is  only  the 
legitimate  maturing  of  errors  unresisted  through  a  period  of 
more  than  thirty  years.  All  the  fearful  evils  now  upon  us 
are  only  the  inevitable  results  of  efforts  to  extinguish,  by 
delays,  concession,  and  compromises,  a  discussion  to  which 
justice,  reason  and  humanity,  are  continually  lending  their 
elemental  fires. 

"What,  then,  is  the  tendency  of  this  aggrandizement  of  the 
slave  interests,  and  what  must  be  its  end,  if  it  be  not  now  or 
speedily  arrested  ?  Immediate  consequences  are  distinctly  in 
view.  The  admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAED.  29 

State,  the  subsequent  introduction  of  slavery,  by  means 
equally  flagrant,  into  Nebraska,  and  the  admission  of  Utah 
with  the  twin  patriarchal  institutions  of  legalized  adultery 
and  slavery,  and  these  three  achievements  crowned  with  the 
incorporation  of  Cuba  into  the  Republic.  Beyond  these  visi- 
ble fields  lies  a  region  of  fearful  speculation — the  restoration 
of  the  African  slave  trade,  and  the  desecration  of  all  Mex- 
ico and  Central  America,  by  the  infliction  upon  the  half-civil- 
ized Spanish  and  Indian  races  dwelling  there,  by  our  hands, 
of  a  curse  from  which,  inferior  as  they  are  to  ourselves,  they 
have  had  the  virtue  once  to  redeem  themselves.  Beyond  this 
last  surveyed,  lies  that  of  civil  and  servile  wars,  national 
decline  and — RUIN  ! 

"  I  fear  to  open  up  these  distant  views,  because  I  know  that 
you  will  attribute  my  apprehensions  to  a  morbid  condition  of 
mind.  But  confining  myself  to  the  immediate  future  which  is 
so  fearfully  visible,  I  ask  you  in  all  candor,  first,  whether  I 
have  ever  before  exaggerated  the  aggrandizement  of  the  slave- 
holding  class.  Secondly,  whether  the  movement  that  I  now 
forbode  is  really  more  improbable  than  the  evils  once  seemed, 
which  are  now  a  startling  reality. 

"  How  are  these  immediate  evils,  and  whatever  of  greater 
evils  that  are  behind  them,  to  be  prevented  ?  Do  you  ex- 
pect that  those  who  have  heretofore  counselled  compromise, 
acquiescence,  and  submission,  will  change  their  course  and 
come  to  the  rescue  of  liberty  ?  Even  if  this  were  a  reasonable 
hope,  are  Cass,  and  Douglass,  and  Buchanan,  greater  or 
better  than  the  statesmen  who  have  opened  the  way  of  com- 
promise, and  led  these  modern  statesmen  into  it  ?  And  if 
they  indeed  are  so  much  greater  and  so  much  better,  do  you 
expect  them  to  live  forever  ? 

"  Perhaps  you  expect  the  slaveholding  class  will  abate  its 
pretensions,  and  practise  voluntarily  the  moderation  which 
you  wish,  but  dare  not  demand  at  its  hands.  How  long,  and 
with  what  success,  have  you  waited  already  for  that  refor- 


30  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

mation  ?  Did  any  property  class  ever  so  reform  itself  ?  Did 
the  patricians  in  old  Rome,  the  noblesse  or  the  clergy  of 
France  ?  The  landholders  in  Ireland  ?  The  landed  aristocracy 
in  England  ?  Does  the  slaveholding  class  even  seek  to  be- 
guile you  with  such  a 'hope  ?  Has  it  not  become  rapacious, 
arrogant,  defiant  ?  Is  it  not  waging  civil  war  against  Free- 
dom, wherever  it  encounters  real  resistance  ?  No  !  no  !  you 
have  let  the  lion  and  the  spotted  leopard  into  the  sheep-fold. 
They  certainly  will  not  die  of  hunger  there,  nor  retire  from 
disgust  with  satiety.  They  will  remain  there  so  long  as  re- 
newed appetite  shall  find  multiplied  prey.  Be  not  self-deceived. 
Whenever  a  property  class  of  any  kind  is  invited  by  society 
to  oppress,  it  will  continue  to  oppress.  Whenever  a  slave- 
holding  class  finds  the  non-slaveholding  classes  yielding,  it  will 
continue  its  work  of  subjugation. 

"  You  admit  all  this,  and  you  ask  how  are  these  great  evils, 
now  so  apparent,  to  be  corrected — these  great  dangers,  now 
so  manifest,  to  be  avoided.  I  answer,  it  is  to  be  done,  not  as 
some  of  you  have  supposed,  by  heated  debates  sustained  by 
rifles  or  revolvers  at  Washington,  nor  yet  by  sending  armies 
with  supplies  and  Sharpe's  rifles  into  Kansas.  I  condemn  no 
necessary  exercise  of  the  right  of  self-defence,  anywhere. 
Public  safety  is  necessary  to  the  practice  of  the  real  duties  of 
champions  of  Freedom.  But  this  is  a  contest  in  which  the 
race  is  not  to  the  physically  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  those  who 
have  most  muscular  strength.  Least  of  all  is  it  to  be  won  by 
retaliation  and  revenge.  The  victory  will  be  to  those  who 
shall  practise  the  highest  moral  courage,  with  simple  fidelity 
to  the  principles  of  humanity  and  justice.  Notwithstanding 
all  the  heroism  of  your  champions  in  Washington  and  Kansas, 
the  contest  will  be  fearfully  endangered,  if  the  slaveholding 
class  shall  win  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  this  great 
national  canvass.  Even  although  every  one  of  these  cham- 
pions should  perish  in  his  proper  field,  yet  the  Rights  of  Man 
will  be  saved,  and  the  tide  of  oppression  will  be  rolled  back 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAKD.  31 

from  our  northern  plains,  if  a  President  and  a  Congress  shall 
be  chosen  who  are  true  to  freedom.  The  people  and  the 
people  only  are  sovereign  and  irresistible,  whether  they  will 
the  ascendency  of  slavery  or  the  triumph  of  liberty. 

"  Harsh  as  my  words  may  have  seemed,  I  do  my  kinsmen 
and  brethren  of  the  free  States  no  such  injustice  as  to  deny 
that  great  allowances  are  to  be  made  for  the  demoralization 
I  have  described.  We  inherited  complicity  with  the  slave- 
holding  class,  and  with  it  prejudices  of  caste.  We  inherited 
confidence  and  affection  toward  our  Southern  brethren — and 
with  these,  our  political  organizations,  and  profound  reverence 
for  political  authorities,  all  adverse  to  the  needful  discussion 
of  slavery.  Above  all,  we  inherited  a  fear  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union,  which  can  only  be  unwholesome  when  it  ceases 
equally  to  affect  the  conduct  of  all  the  great  parties  to  that 
sacred  compact.  All  these  inheritances  have  created  influ- 
ences upon  our  political  conduct,  which  are  rather  to  be  de- 
plored than  condemned.  I  trust  that  at  last  these  influences 
are  about  to  cease.  I  trust  so,  because,  if  we  have  inherited 
the  demoralization  of  slavery,  we  have  also  attained  the  virtue 
required  for  emancipation.  If  we  have  inherited  prejudices  of 
caste,  we  have  also  risen  to  the  knowledge  that  political 
safety  is  dependent  on  the  rendering  of  equal  and  exact  jus- 
tice to  all  men.  And  if  we  have  suffered  our  love  for  the 
Union  to  be  abused  so  as  to  make  us  tolerate  the  evils  that 
more  than  all  others  endanger  it,  we  have  discerned  that  great 
error  at  last.  If  we  should  see  a  citizen  who  had  erected  a 
noble  edifice,  sit  down  inactively  in  its  hall,  avoiding  all  duty 
and  enterprise,  lest  he  might  provoke  enemies  to  pull  it  down 
over  his  head,  or  one  who  had  built  a  majestic  vessel,  moor  it 
to  the  wharf,  through  fear  that  he  might  peradventure  run  it 
upon  the  rocks,  we  should  condemn  his  fatuity  and  folly.  We 
have  learned  at  last  that  the  American  people  labor  not  only 
under  the  responsibility  of  preserving  this  Union,  but  also 
under  the  responsibility  of  making  it  subserve  the  advancement 


32  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

of  justice  and  humanity,  and  that  neglect  of  this  last  respon- 
sibility involves  the  chief  peril  to  which  the  Union  is  exposed. 

"  I  shall  waste  little  tune  on  the  newly-invented  apologies 
for  continued  demoralization.  The  question  now  to  be  decided 
is,  whether  a  slaveholding  class  exclusively  shall  govern 
America,  or  whether  it  shall  only  bear  divided  sway  with 
non-slaveholding  citizens.  It  concerns  all  persons  equally, 
whether  they  are  Protestants  or  Catholics,  native-born  or 
exotic  citizens.  And  therefore  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  no 
time  for  trials  of  strength  between  the  native-born  and  the 
adopted  freeman,  or  between  any  two  branches  of  one  com- 
mon Christian  brotherhood. 

"  As  little  shall  I  dwell  on  merely  personal  partialities  or 
prejudices  affecting  the  candidates  for  public  trusts.  Each 
fitly  personates  the  cause  he  represents.  Beyond  a  doubt, 
Mr.  Buchanan  is  faithful  to  the  slaveholding  class,  as  Mr. 
Fillmore  vacillates  between  it  and  its  opponents.  I  know 
Mr.  Fremont  well ;  and  when  I  say  that  I  know  that  he  com- 
bines extraordinary  genius  and  unquestionable  sincerity  of 
purpose  with  unusual  modesty,  I  am  sure  that  you  will  admit 
that  he  is  a  true  representative  of  the  Cause  of  Freedom. 

"  Discarding  sectionalism,  and  loving  my  country  and  all 
its  parts,  and  bearing  an  affection  even  to  the  slaveholding 
class,  none  the  less  sincere  because  it  repels  me,  I  cordially 
adopt  the  motto  which  it  too  often  hangs  out  to  delude  us. 
I  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  and  no  West ;  for  I 
know  that  he  who  would  offer  an  acceptable  sacrifice  in  the 
present  crisis  must  conform  himself  to  the  divine  instructions, 
that  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  shall  we 
worship  the  Father  ;  but  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and 
in  truth. 

"  Last  of  all,  I  stop  not  to  argue  with  those  who  decry 
agitation  and  extol  conservatism,  not  knowing  that  conserva- 
tism is  of  two  kinds — that  one  which,  yielding  to  cowardly 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAED.  33 

fear  of  present  inconvenience  or  danger,  covers  even  political 
leprosy  with  protecting  folds  ;  and  that  other  and  better 
conservatism,  that  heals,  in  order  that  the  body  of  the  Com- 
monwealth may  be  healthful  and  immortal. 

"Fellow-citizens,  I  am  aware  that  I  have  spoken  with 
seriousness  amounting  to  solemnity.  Do  not  infer  from  thence 
that  I  am  despondent  or  distrustful  of  present  triumph  and 
ultimate  regeneration.  It  has  required  a  strong  pressure 
upon  the  mam-spring  of  the  pubh'c  virtue  to  awaken  its  elas- 
ticity. Such  pressure  has  reached  the  centre  of  the  spring 
at  last.  They  who  have  reckoned'  that  its  elasticity  was 
lost,  are  now  discovering  their  profound  mistake.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  have  dallied  long  with  the  cactus, 
and  floated  carelessly  on  the  calm  seas  that  always  reflect 
summer  skies,  but  they  have  not  lost  their  preference  for  their 
own  changeless  fleur  de  Us,  and  they  consult  no  other  guid- 
ance, in  their  course  over  the  waters,  than  that  of  their  own 
bright,  particular,  and  constant  star,  the  harbinger  of 
Liberty." 

Mr.  Seward's  famous  Rochester  speech  has  been  so 
often  misquoted  and  misrepresented  that  we  will 
quote  from  it  a  few  passages : 

"  The  slave  system  is  one  of  constant  danger,  distrust,  sus- 
picion and  watchfulness.  It  debases  those  whose  toil  alone 
can  produce  wealth  and  resources  for  defence,  to  the  lowest 
degree  of  which  human  nature  is  capable,  to  guard  against 
mutiny  and  insurrection,  and  thus  wastes  energies  which 
otherwise  might  be  employed  in  national  development  and 
a  aggrandizement. 

"  The  free-labor  system  educates  all  alike,  and,  by  opening 
all  the  fields  of  industrial  employment,  and  ah"  the  depart- 
ments of  authority,  to  the  unchecked  and  equal  rivalry  of  all 
classes  of  men,  at  once  secures  universal  contentment,  and 

2* 


34  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

brings  into  the  highest  possible  activity  all  the  physical, 
moral  and  social  energies  of  the  State.  In  States  where  the 
slave  system  prevails,  the  masters,  directly  or  indirectly, 
secure  all  political  power,  and  constitute  a  ruling  aristo- 
cracy. In  the  States  where  the  free-labor  system  prevails, 
universal  suffrage  necessarily  obtains,  and  the  State  inevitably 
becomes,  sooner  or  later,  a  republic  or  democracy. 

"  Russia  yet  maintains  slavery,  and  is  a  despotism.  Most 
of  the  other  European  states  have  abolished  slavery,  and 
adopted  the  system  of  free  labor.  It  was  the  antagonistic 
political  tendencies  of  the  two  systems  which  the  first  Napo- 
leon was  contemplating  when  he  predicted  that  Europe  would 
ultimately  be  either  all  Cossack  or  all  Republican.  Never  did 
human  sagacity  utter  a  more  pregnant  truth.  The  two  systems 
are  at  once  perceived  to  be  incongruous,  but  they  are  more 
than  incongruous,  they  are  incompatible.  They  never  have 
permanently  existed  together  in  one  country,  and  they  never 
can.  It  would  be  easy  to  demonstrate  this  impossibility,  from 
the  irreconcilable  contrast  between  their  great  principles  and 
characteristics.  But  the  experience  of  mankind  has  conclu- 
sively established  it.  Slavery,  as  I  have  already  intimated, 
existed  in  every  state  in  Europe.  Free  labor  has  supplanted 
it  everywhere  except  in  Russia  and  Turkey.  State  necessi- 
ties, developed  in  modern  times,  are  now  obliging  even 
those  two  nations  to  encourage  and  employ  free  labor  ;  and 
already,  despotic  as  they  are,  we  find  them  engaged  in  abol- 
ishing slavery.  In  the  United  States,  slavery  came  into 
collision  with  free  labor  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and 
fell  before  it  in  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  but  triumphed  over  it  effectually,  and  excluded 
it  for  a  period  yet  undetermined,  from  Virginia,  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  Georgia.  Indeed,  so  incompatible  are  the  two 
systems,  that  every  new  State  which  is  organized  within  our 
ever-extending  domain  makes  its  first  political  act  a  choice 
of  the  one  and  an  exclusion  of  the  other,  even  at  the  cost  of 


WILLIAM   H.  8EWAKD.  35 

civil  war,  if  necessary.  The  slave  States,  without  law,  at 
the  last  national  election,  successfully  forbade,  within  their 
own  limits,  even  the  casting  of  votes  for  a  candidate  for  Pre- 
sident of  the  United  States  supposed  to  be  favorable  to  the 
establishment  of  the  free-labor  system  in  the  new  States. 

"Hitherto,  the  two  systems  have  existed  in  different 
States,  but  side  by  side  within  the  American  Union.  This 
has  happened  because  the  Union  is  a  confederation  of  States. 
But  in  another  aspect,  the  United  States  constitute  only  one 
nation.  Increase  of  population,  which  is  filling  the  States 
out  to  their  very  borders,  together  with  a  new  and  extended 
net-work  of  railroads  and  other  avenues,  and  an  internal 
commerce  which  daily  becomes  more  intimate,  is  rapidly 
bringing  the  States  into  a  higher  and  more  perfect  social 
unity  or  consolidation.  Thus  these  antagonistic  systems  are 
continually  coming  into  closer  contact,  and  collision  results. 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  what  this  collision  means  ?  They  who 
think  that  it  is  accidental,  unnecessary,  the  work  of  inter- 
ested or  fanatical  agitators,  and  therefore  ephemeral,  mistake 
the  case  altogether.  It  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between 
opposing  and  enduring  forces,  and  it  means  that  the  United 
States  must  and  will,  sooner  or  later,  become  either  entirely 
a  slaveholding  nation,  or  entirely  a  free-labor  nation.  Either 
the  cotton  and  rice  fields  of  South  Carolina  and  the  sugar 
plantations  of  Louisiana  will  ultimately  be  tilled  by  free  labor, 
and  Charleston  and  New  Orleans  become  marts  for  legiti- 
mate merchandise  alone,  or  else  the  rye  fields  and  wheat 
fields  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  must  again  be  sur- 
rendered by  then*  farmers  to  slave  culture  and  to  the  produc- 
tion of  slaves,  and  Boston  and  New  York  become  once  more 
markets  for  trade  in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  It  is  the 
failure  to  apprehend  this  great  truth  that  induces  so  many 
unsuccessful  attempts  at  final  compromise  between  the  slave 
and  free  States,  and  it  is  the  existence  of  this  great  fact  that 
renders  all  such  pretended  compromises,  when  made,  vain 


36  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

and  ephemeral.  Startling  as  this  saying  may  appear  to  you, 
fellow-citizens,  it  is  by  no  means  an  original  or  even  a  modern 
one.  Our  forefathers  knew  it  to  be  true,  and  unanimously 
acted  upon  it  when  they  framed  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  They  regarded  the  existence  of  the  servile 
system  in  so  many  of  the  States  with  sorrow  and  shame, 
whidi  they  openly  confessed,  and  they  looked  upon  the  colli- 
sion between  them,  which  was  then  just  revealing  itself,  and 
which  we  are  now  accustomed  to  deplore,  with  favor  and 
hope.  They  knew  that  either  the  one  or  the  other  system 
must  exclusively  prevail.  . 

"  Unlike  too  many  of  those  who  in  modern  times  invoke 
their  authority,  they  had  a  choice  between  the  two.  They 
preferred  the  system  of  free  labor,  and  they  determined  to 
organize  the  Government,  and  so  to  direct  its  activity,  that 
that  system  should  surely  and  certainly  prevail.  For  this 
purpose,  and  no  other,  they  based  the  whole  structure  of 
government  broadly  on  the  principle  that  all  men  are  created 
equal,  and  therefore  free — little  dreaming  that  within  the 
short  period  of  one  hundred  years,  their  descendants  would 
bear  to  be  told  by  any  orator,  however  popular,  that  the 
utterance  of  that  principle  was  merely  a  rhetorical  rhapsody  ; 
or  by  any  judge,  however  venerated,  that  it  was  attended  by 
mental  reservations,  which  render  it  hypocritical  and  false. 
By  the  ordinance  of  1781,  they  dedicated  all  the  national 
domain  not  yet  polluted  by  slavery  to  free  labor  immediately, 
thenceforth  and  forever,  while  by  the  new  Constitution  and 
laws  they  invited  foreign  free  labor  from  all  lands  under  the 
sun,  and  interdicted  the  importation  of  African  slave  labor, 
at  all  times,  in  all  places,  and  under  all  circumstances  what- 
soever. It  is  true  that  they  necessarily  and  wisely  modified 
this  policy  of  freedom  by  leaving  it  to  the  several  States, 
affected  as  they  were  by  differing  circumstances,  to  abolish 
slavery  in  their  own  way,  and  at  their  own  pleasure,  instead 
of  confiding  that  duty  to  Congress,  and  that  they  secured  to 


WILLIAM   H.  8EWAED.  37 

the  slave  States,  while  yet  retaining  the  system  of  slavery,  a 
three-fifths  representation  of  slaves  in  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, until  they  should  find  themselves  able  to  relinquish  it 
with  safety.  But  the  very  nature  of  these  modifications  for- 
tifies my  position  that  the  fathers  knew  that  the  two  systems 
could  not  endure  within  the  Union,  and  expected  that  within 
a  short  period  slavery  would  disappear  forever.  Moreover, 
in  order  that  these  modifications  might  not  altogether  defeat 
their  grand  design  of  a  republic  maintaining  universal  equality, 
they  provided  that  two-thirds  of  the  States  might  amend  the 
Constitution. 

"  It  remains  to  say  on  this  point  only  one  word,  to  guard 
against  misapprehension.  If  these  States  are  to  again  become 
universally  slavekolding,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  with  what  vio- 
lations of  the  Constitution  that  end  shall  be  accomplished.  On 
the  other  hand,  while  I  do  confidently  believe  and  hope  that  my 
country  will  yet  become  a  land  of  universal  freedom,  I  do  not 
expect  that  it  will  be  made  so  otherwise  than  through  the  action 
of  the  several  States  cooperating  with  the  Federal  Government, 
and  all  acting  in  strict  conformity  with  their  respective  Consti- 
tutions." 

In  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  last  spring,  March  2, 
1859,  Mr.  Seward  said — he  was  speaking  of  the 
"  Expenses  and  Revenues  " — 

"  We  are  for  free  trade  to  a  practical  extent,  and  we  all 
are  in  favor  of  a  judicious  tariff.  The  exigency  of  this  debate 
does  not  require  me  to  survey  the  whole  range  of  produc- 
tive industry  of  the  country,  and  to  suggest  a  comparative 
system  of  imposts  adjusted  to  them  all.  It  would  be  labor 
lost  to  do  so  ;  for,  as  I  have  already  said,  it  is  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  not  here,  that  the  act  originating 
any  revision  of  the  tariff  must  be  introduced,  and  perfected, 
at  least  in  degree.  But  I  can  say,  with  entire  freedom,  that 


38  PBESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

it  would  present  no  ground  of  objection,  in  my  judgment,  if 
such  a  bill  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  favor  and  encour- 
age the  mining  and  manufacture  of  iron.  I  select  and  dis- 
tinguish this  great  interest,  because  I  think  that  the  disasters 
which  have  overtaken  the  National  Treasury  and  have 
crushed  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  have  resulted  from 
neglect  and  improvidence  in  regard  to  it.  We  have  been 
engaged,  as  most  other  civilized  states  have  been  engaged, 
during  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  in  adopting  the  great 
invention  of  railroads,  or,  as  the  Frenchmen  accurately 
describe  them,  iron  roads,  and  bringing  it  into  universal  use. 
If  we  could  only  have  understood  ourselves  in  the  beginning 
of  this  period,  and  adhered  persistently  throughout  to  just 
convictions  then  formed,  we  should  have  so  discriminated  in 
our  revenue  system  as  to  have  made  this  great  enterprise 
work  out  an  establishment  of  the  iron  manufacture  in  this 
country,  so  as  to  derive  from  it  our  chief  supplies.  But  the 
country  has  not  been  willing  to  look  steadily  to  that  ultimate 
interest.  It  has  asked  always  the  cheapest  iron  that  could 
be  gotten,  and,  of  course,  has  demanded  that  the  imposts 
should  be  fixed  at  the  lowest  possible  rates.  So  the  protec- 
tion afforded  by  the  tariff  of  1846  gave  place  to  a  lower 
protection  in  1857  ;  and  it  has  not  been  without  much  diffi- 
culty that  at  times  Congress  has  been  stayed  from  remitting 
all  duties  on  foreign  manufactures  of  railroad  iron.  The 
Legislatures  of  the  States,  acting  on  the  same  erroneous 
principles,  have  authorized  combinations  and  associations  on 
doubtful  principles  to  force  forward  the  same  precipitancy  of 
action.  Loans  of  the  credit  of  States,  of  counties,  cities,  and 
even  towns,  have  been_  authorized,  to  furnish  capital  to  rail- 
road corporations,  and  at  the  same  time  they  have  been 
continually  allowed  to  borrow  money,  at  usurious  and 
ruinous  rates  of  interest.  Securities  thus  obtained,  doubted 
and  comparatively  valueless  at  home,  have  been  pledged  to 
the  iron  manufacturers  abroad,  and  their  enterprise  has  been 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAED.  39 

excessively  stimulated,  while  that  of  our  own  manufacturers 
has  been  disheartened  'and  suppressed.  These  improvement 
measures  have  at  last  produced  their  inevitable  effect — an 
undue  diversion  of  capital  into  railroad  enterprises,  a  derange- 
ment of  internal  exchanges  at  home,  and  a  collapse  of  the 
national  credit  abroad,  and  a  suspension  equally  of  domestic 
manufactures  and  of  foreign  commerce.  Such  are  the  legiti- 
mate results  of  the  improvidence  which  caused  roads  to  be 
built  of  foreign  iron,  over  the  coal  and  iron  beds  in  our 
mountains.  I  hope,  sir,  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
will  make  the  needed  initial  step  in  a  return  to  a  wise  policy, 
and  will  send  the  miner  once  more  with  his  torch  into  the 
deserted  chambers  where  the  coal  and  the  ore  are  stored  away 
by  the  hand  of  nature,  and  will  adopt  such  a  policy  as  will 
rekindle  the  slumbering  fires  in  the  forges  and  furnaces  of 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Tennessee  and 
Missouri.  It  would  be  a  benevolent  work.  I  do  not  say 
that  I  would  force  the  Government  to  assume  it  merely  as  a 
work  of  benevolence  ;  but  I  do  say,  that  since  there  is  need 
of  taxes  to  avoid  debt,  I  would  so  levy  the  taxes  as  to  secure 
incidentally  that  benevolent  object." 

To  show  that  Mr.  Seward  indulged  in  no  feel- 
ings of  personal  hostility  toward  any  slaveholder, 
we  quote  from  his  remarks  on  the  death  of  Senator 
Rusk  of  Texas,  a  man  in  his  politics  utterly  opposed 
to  Mr.  Seward  as  we  can  suppose  any  southern 
politician,  however  ultra,  to  be. 

Said  Mr.  Seward  of  his  fellow-senator : 

"  On  the  last  day  of  August,  I  was  reenterhig  the  port 
of  Quebec,  after  a  voyage  of  thirty  days,  in  search  of  health, 
along  the  inhospitable  coasts  of  Labrador.  The  sympathies 
of  home  and  country,  so  long  suppressed,  were  revived  within 


40  PBESIDENTIA.L    CANDIDATES. 

me,  and  I  was  even  meditating  new  labors  and  studies  here, 
when  the  pilot,  who  came  on  board,  handed  me  a  newspaper 
which  announced  the  death  of  the  senator  from  Texas.  My 
first  emotions  were  those  of  sadness  and  sorrow  over  this 
bereavement  of  a  personal  friend.  When  these  had  had 
their  time,  I  tried  to  divine  why  it  was  that  he,  among  all 
the  associates  whom  I  honored,  esteemed  and  loved  here, 
was  thus  suddenly  and  prematurely  withdrawn  from  the 
scene  of  our  common  labors  ;  he  for  whom  I  thought  higher 
honors  were  preparing,  and  a  fuller  wreath  was  being  woven  ; 
he  who  seemed  to  me  to  stand  a  monument  against  which 
the  waves  of  faction  must  break,  if  ever  they  should  be 
stirred  up  from  their  lowest  depths  ;  he,  in  short,  with  whom 
I  thought  I  might  do  so  much,  and  without  whom  I  could 
do  almost  nothing,  to  magnify  and  honor  the  Republic. 
That  question  I  could  not  solve — I  cannot  solve  it  now.  It  is 
only  another  occasion  in  which  I  am  required  to  trust,  where 
I  am  not  permitted  to  know,  the  ways  of  the  Great  Disposer. 
"  Mr.  President,  the  teeming  thoughts  of  this  solemn  hour 
bring  up  once  more  before  me  the  manly  form  and  beaming 
countenance  of  my  friend,  though  it  is  but  for  that  formal 
parting  which  has,  until  now,  been  denied  me.  Farewell, 
noble  patriot,  heroic  soldier,  faithful  statesman,  generous 
friend  !  loved  by  no  means  the  least,  although  among  the 
last  of  friends  secured.  I  little  thought  that  our  whisperings 
about  travels  over  earth's  fairest  lands  and  broadest  seas 
were  only  the  suggestions  of  our  inward  natures  to  prepare 
for  the  sad  journey*  that  leads  through  the  gate  of  death." 

Feb.  25,  1859,  the  famous  night  session  of  the  Sen- 
ate 011  the  Cuba  Thirty  Million  Bill  occurred.  Mr. 
Seward  had  previously  spoken  against  the  measure, 

*  Mr.  Rusk  and  Mr.  Seward  had  planned  a  voyage  around  the  world 
together. 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAKD.  41 

and  opposed  the  friends  of  the  bill,  but  he  was 
treated  with  courtesy  till  this  night  session,  when 
Mr.  Tombs  made  a  fierce  onslaught  upon  him.  Let 
us  recall  the  debate  : 

Mr.  Dixon,  of  Connecticut,  spoke  for  two  hours, 
replying  to  the  points  of  Mr.  Benjamin's  recent  speech. 
Mr.  Benjamin  had  urged,  he  said,  that  unless  we 
acquire  Cuba,  Spain  will  emancipate  the  negroes. 
Mr.  Dixon  reasoned,  that  if  negro  freedom  in  Cuba 
would  be  injurious  to  the  United  States,  in  Jamaica 
it  must  be  equally  so ;  yet  it  is  not  used  as  an  argu- 
ment to  buy  Jamaica  from  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Ben- 
jamin had  reasoned  that  compulsory  labor  was 
necessary  to  develop  tropical  production;  but  Mr. 
Dixon  thought  that  the  sugar  for  the  world  could  be 
grown  by  free  labor  ;  and  if  it  could  not,  sugar  was 
not  a  sufficient  equivalent  for  the  perpetuation  of 
slavery.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Dixon  had 
occasion  to  say  that  slavery  degrades  free  labor. 

Mr.  Heid  controverted  this  opinion,  and  said  the 
doctrine  was  new  in  the  South.  He  maintained  that 
the  white  man  was  not  degraded  by  labor,  although 
he  worked  at  the  bench,  or  in  a  field,  side  by  side 
with  his  slave. 

Mr.  Dixon  refused  to  admit  tne  correctness  of  this 
assertion  as  an  exposition  of  the  general  southern 
feeling. 

Mr.  Bell  traced  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  filibus- 


42  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ter  spirit,  until  it  culminated  in  the  Ostend  manifesto, 
and  became  reflected  in  this  Cuban  bill.  Both  were 
in  a  form  offensive  to  Spain.  No  nation  would  be 
apt  to  receive  kindly  an  offer  made  to  purchase  its 
territory  when  accompanied  by  a  studied  reminder 
of  its  fallen  fortunes.  His  (Mr.  Bell's)  opinion  was 
that  the  Ostend  manifesto  and  the  present  proposal 
were  framed  on  the  perfect  knowledge  that  Cuba 
could  not  be  acquired,  and  that  they  were  addressed 
to  what  is  supposed  to  be  the  dominant  traits  in  our 
national  character.  The  committee's  report  is  skill- 
fully drawn  up.  It  promises  to  extend  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  North,  the  peculiar  industry  of  the 
South,  and  the  agriculture  of  the  "West.  It  is  framed 
to  habituate  the  country  to  the  cry  of  "  war,"  but 
we  are  making  no  preparation  for  war.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  are  trying  to  get  along  without  a  revenue. 
For  himself,  he  would  favor  our  acquiring  control  of 
the  island,  either  as  a  protectorate  or  independent 
power ;  but  he  likewise  held  that  the  time  has  not 
yet  come  when  its  possession  was  necessary,  either  to 
our  development  or  security.  We  are  not  now  in 
position  to  accept  Cuba,  if  Spain  should  offer  it  as  a 
gift.  We  cannot  accept  it  until  we  have  built  up  a 
navy  of  sufficient  strength  to  maintain  it.  The  first 
blow  that  would  be  struck  in  a  war  with  a  naval 
power  would  be  to  wrest  it  from  us,  and  hold  its  har- 
bors as  a  means  of  annoyance  against  us.  The  com- 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWARD.  43 

mittee's  promise  that  the  acquisition  of  the  island 
will  give  us  the  monopoly  of  sugar  is  equally  falla- 
cious. The  increasing  production  of  that  article 
would  soon  -create  its  production  throughout  the 
whole  temperate  zone.  Neither  is  it  true,  as  the  com- 
mittee says,  that  when  a  nation  ceases  growth,  its 
decadence  commences.  History  does  not  teach  this 
doctrine  of  expansion,  nor  is  there  any  parallelism 
between  the  growth  of  a  nation  and  an  individual 
man.  Are  our  internal  affairs  so  perfectly  organized 
as  to  leave  no  range  for  our  ambition  ?  Has  even  the 
question  of  currency  been  placed  on  a  satisfac- 
tory basis  ?  Is  our  great  internal  domain  reduced  to 
such  narrow  limits  as  to  afford  no  scope  to  our 
energies?  Our  territory  is  now  greater  than  the 
whole  area  of  the  Roman  Empire.  All  this  we  are 
bound  to  protect  and  defend;  and  to  defend  the 
accessible  points  of  our  extended  frontier  would  re- 
quire 100,000  men,  with  at  least  250  war  steamers, 
The  chairman  of  the  Naval  Committee  says  our 
whole  guns  are  1,100.  The  French  navy  alone  has 
15,000  cannon  afloat,  with  500  ships,  of  which 
half  are  war  steamers.  We  are  not  now  prepared  for 
such  a  war ;  and  yet  the  President  announced,  on  a 
recent  occasion,  that  our  policy  henceforth  is  expan- 
sion 

Mr.  Kennedy,  of  Maryland,  addressed  the  Senate, 
arguing  that  the  acquisition  of  Cuba  is  subversive  of 


44  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  "best  interests  of  the  South.  Referring  to  the 
aspect  of  our  domestic  affairs,  he  considered  that  in- 
novations had  been  ingrafted  on  the  policy  of  this 
government,  which  inevitably  betokens  its  dissolution. 
The  doctrine  of  State  Eights  did  well  while  we  were 
a  homogeneous  people,  bound  together  by  common 
troubles  ;  but  that  day  has  passed.  The  unbounded 
prosperity  of  this  country,  its  fertile  lands,  and 
increasing  wealth,  have  attracted  to  it  people  from 
every  clime.  There  is  no  common  interest  to  bind  us 
together.  The  Constitution  and  the  Supreme  Court 
are  derided,  and  the  Constitution  threatens  to  be 
but  a  rope  of  sand,  unable  to  bind,  from  having  no 
power  to  punish  infractions  of  that  Constitution.  He 
had  been  derided  as  an  old  Federalist,  and  the  men 
who  so  denounced  him  had  now  on  the  table  two 
bills  more  dangerous,  in  consolidating  the  power  in 
the  hands  of  one  man,  than  any  that  ever  emanated 
from  the  old  Federal  party.  They  had  also  a  bill  to 
give  away  the  public  lands  to  the  sweepings  of  Euro- 
pean lazar-houses,  to  squat  thereon,  and,  under  an 
easy  franchise,  to  control  that  government,  before 
they  know  a  word  of  our  language,  or  have  one  idea 
toward  a  comprehension  of  our  institutions.  Yet, 
while  offering  this  extraordinary  bonus  to  the  discon- 
tented spirits  of  the  old  world,  they  refuse  to  vote 
for  and  denounce  the  old  soldiers'  bill.  How  comes 
it,  he  asked,  that  there  is  such  a  diversity  of  opinion 


WILLIAM   H.  8EWAED.  45 

in  the  democratic  party,  marching  under  one  banner, 
and  professing  common  principles  ? 

He  proceeded  to  ask  how  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
hold  Cuba,  with  but  fifty-seven  ships  in  our  navy  to 
protect  the  fifty  Cuban  harbors?  Our  Paraguay 
armada  consists  of  canal-boats,  and  side-wheel  steam- 
ers. Have  senators  reflected  on  the  baneful  effect  the 
acquisition  of  Cuba  would  have  on  slave  property?  He 
remembered  the  opening  of  Alabama.  Virginia  has 
scarcely  yet  recovered  from  the  effect  of  that  exodus 
of  her  labor  to  localities  where  it  would  be  more 
remunerative.  "With  the  slave  trade  stopped,  Cuba 
would  be  a  perpetual  drain,  and  would  put  planters 
into  a  more  uneq.ua!  contest  by  withdrawing  the  labor 
from  their  cotton  fields  into  sugar  production.  It  is 
estimated  that  five  hundred  thousand  slaves  will  be 
abstracted  from  the  southern  States,  and  a  thousand 
millions  of  capital,  within  five  years.  And  if  we 
drift  into  a  war  with  England  and  France,  we  will 
have  to  maintain  a  contest  with  fifteen  hundred  ships 
on  our  extended  coast  line.  These  are  considerations, 
for  the  American  people,  as  they  will  change  the 
whole  course  of  our  policy,  and  inaugurate  a  new  era 
of  standing  armies  and  enormous  fleets.  The  time  is 
also  inopportune  for  the  acquisition  of  that  island.  In 
conclusion,  he  did  not  admit  the  right  to  bring  in  a 
foreign  nation,  with  a  foreign  tongue  and  foreign 
teachings,  and  incapable  of  understanding  our  institu- 


4:6  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

tions.  In  his  opinion,  we  were  fast  losing  all  those 
landmarks  which  characterized  our  early  nationality, 
and  were  fast  becoming  a  mere  confederation  of 
heterogeneous  States.  For  these  and  other  considera- 
tions, he  was  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  Cuba. 

Mr.  Wade  here  moved  to  .adjourn.  Lost  by  17 
to  28. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  Senate  was 
crowded — the  galleries  were  one  sea  of  faces.  The 
Republicans  wanted  to  adjourn  the  discussion  to  the 
next  day — the  Democrats  were  determined  to  force  a 
vote  on  the  bill  that  evening. 

Mr.  Doolittle,  of  "Wisconsin,  moved  to  postpone 
the  Cuba  and  take  up  the  homestead  bill,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  on  the  latter. 

Mr.  Slidell  called  him  to  order. 

Mr.  Doolittle  insisted  on  his  motion. 

Mr.  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  although  he  had  for 
fifteen  years  advocated  the  homestead  bill,  asked 
Mr.  Doolittle  to  withdraw  his  motion. 

Mr.  Douglas,  as  a  friend  of  the  homestead  bill, 
made  the  same  request. 

Mr.  Clark,  of  Connecticut,  as  a  friend  of  the 
homestead  bill,  moved  the  Senate  adjourn.  Lost,  by 
IT  to  30. 

Mr.  Trumbull  asked  Mr.  Hunter  to  pledge  himself 
not  to  bring  forward  the  appropriation  bills,  to  pre- 
vent a  vote  on  the  homestead  bill. 


WILLLAJI  H.  SEWAKD.  47 

Mr.  Hunter  would  give  no  such  promise. 

Mr.  Trumbull  appealed  to  Mr.  Johnson  to  stand 
by  and  press  the  homestead  bill. 

Mr.  Bigler  asked  Mr.  Trumbull,  for  himself  and 
the  Republicans,  to  name  the  hour  at  which  they 
would  vote  on  both  measures. 

Mr.  Trumbull,  for  himself,  was  ready  now,  but 
could  not  make  any  pledge  for  his  friends. 

Mr.  Seward  said  that  after  nine  hours'  discussion  on 
the  Cuba  bill,  it  was  time  to  come  back  to  the  great 
question  of  the  age.  Two  propositions  now  stand 
face  to  face ;  one  is  the  question  of  land  for  the  land- 
less, and  the  other  is  a  question  of  land  for  slaves. 

Mr.  Slidell  here  rose. 

The  Yice-President.  Will  the  Senator  from  New 
York  yield  the  floor  to  the  Senator  from  Louisiana  ? 

Mr.  Seward.     No,  sir,  I  do  not. 

Mr.  Slidell  called  Mr.  Seward  to  order.  He  was 
discussing  the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  bills. 

The  Yice-President  decided  that  Mr.  Seward  was 
in  order. 

Mr.  Seward  went  on  with  a  few  words,  when  Mr. 
Fitch  appealed  to  the  Chair  to  put  the  question  of 
order  to  the  Senate,  with  a  view  of  stopping  what 
threatened  to  be  an  interminable  discussion. 

The  Yice-President  refused  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Seward  went  on,  saying :  "  It  is  in  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Congress  that  the  homestead  bill  has  been  put 


48  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

aside."  He  then  contrasted  the  merits  of  the  two 
bills. 

Mr.  Toombs  said,  as  to  "  land  for  the  landless,"  it 
carried  with  it  some  demagogical  power.  He  de- 
spised a  demagogue,  but  despised  still  more  those 
who  are  driven  by  demagogues.  What  are  the 
other  side  afraid  of?  If  they  do  not  want  to  give 
$30,000,000  to  carry  out  a  great  national  policy,  let 
them  say  so  and  not  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  issue 
by  saying,  "  We  want  to  give  land  to  the  landless." 

Mr.  Wade  said  the  question  was  land  to  the  land- 
less, or  niggers  to  the  niggerless.  He  would  antago- 
nize these  issues,  and  carry  the  appeal  to  the  country. 
The  whole  object  of  the  Democratic  party  was  to  go 
round  the  world  hunting  for  niggers.  They  could  no 
more  sustain  their  party  without  niggers,  than  they 
could  a  steam  engine  without  fuel. 

Mr.  Fessenden  took  Mr.  Toombs  to  task,  and  asked 
if  the  language  he  had  used  was  not  in  imitation  of  the 
great  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  Avenue  (the  Presi- 
dent), who  recently  addressed  an  out-of-door  crowd, 
baying  none  but  cowards  shirk  this  Cuban  bill. 
He  told  the  senator  the  Republicans  did  not  tremble 
nor  shrink.  He  referred  to  the  trial  of  physical 
endurance  at  the  last  session,  and  hinted  that  they 
could  endure  as  much  again.  He  denied  that  the 
Republicans  were  obstructing  legitimate  business,  but 
said  they  were  opposed  to  this  Cuban  measure, 


WILLIAM   H.  SEWAED.  49 

by  which  nothing  was    intended    but   a  party  re- 
sult. 

Mr.  Seward  was  not  in  the  habit  of  impugning  the 
courage  of  any  man.  He  believed  every  senator  had 
sufficient.  He  himself  had  enough  for  his  own  pur- 
poses. But  other  qualities  are  also  necessary.  There 
is  moral  courage.  There  is  truthfulness  to  pledges. 
The  President  had  power  to  carry  out  his  pledges,  and 
has  he  done  so  ?  "Where  is  the  Pacific  Railroad  bill  ? 
where  his  protection  ?  where  relief  to  the  bankrupt  ? 
Lost,  sunk,  sacrificed,  in  his  attempt  to  fasten  slavery 
on  the  Spanish  American  States.  "No  part  of  the 
President's  policy  has  been  carried  out,  but  it  is  all 
sacrificed  to  a  false  and  pretended  issue.  Out  of 
nothing,  nothing  is  expected  to  come.  He  (Mr.  Sew- 
ard) had  never  mistaken  the  President's  policy.  He 
never  mistook  it  for  a  giant  in  arms,  but  for  a  wind- 
mill with  sails.  Mr.  Seward  concluded  by  an  ener- 
getic declaration  that  he  is  to  be  found  on  the  side  of 
liberty,  everywhere  and  always. 

Mr.  Toombs  replied  at  some  length,  till  Mr.  John- 
son, of  Arkansas,  again  raised  a  question  of  order,  to 
cut  off  debate. 

At  eleven  o'clock  there  was  a  crowded  audience  ; 
half  the  senators  were  in  their  seats,  while  the  rest 
were  reading  and  smoking  in  the  ante-room. 

Mr.  Doolittle  finally  declined  to  withdraw  his 
motion. 

3 


50  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

At  midnight,  Mr.  Chandler  attempted  to  reply  to 
the  remarks  of  Mr.  Toombs  respecting  demagogues.* 

The  Vice-President  ruled  that  he  was  not  in  order. 

Mr.  Fessenden  appealed  from  the  ruling  of  the 
Chair. 

Mr.  Mason  again  moved  to  adjourn.  Lost  by  20 
to  30. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Fessenden  was  then  laid  on  the 
table. 

Mr.  Clark  then  spoke ;  after  which  Mr.  Doolittle's 
motion  to  take  up  the  homestead  bill  was  voted  on, 
and  lost,  by  yeas  17,  nays  28. 

At  last,  wearied  out,  and  convinced  that  the  Repub- 
licans were  not  to  be  intimidated  or  driven  into  a 
vote  upon  the  bill  without  more  discussion,  Mr.  Slidell, 
himself,  moved  an  adjournment,  at  one  o'clock  at 
night,  which  was  of  course  carried. 


•• 


STEPHEN   A.    DOUGLAS. 

STEPHEN  AKNOLD  DOUGLAS  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Brandon,  Vermont,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1813. 
His  father,  S.  A.  Douglas,  was  a  doctor  and  native 
of  Rensselaer  County,  New  York.  The  father  re- 
moved to  Vermont  in  early  life,  and  was  educated  at 
Middlebury  College.  He  was  a  physician  of  some 
eminence.  He  died  suddenly  in  1813,  leaving  two 
children — a  daughter,  twenty  months  old,  and  a  son 
(the  subject  of  this  sketch)  only  two  months  of  age. 
The  mother  of  Mr.  Douglas,  was  the  daughter  of  a 
large  farmer  in  Brandon,  Vermont.  Upon  the  death 
of  her  husband,  she  went  back  to  the  old  homestead 
which  she  inherited  with  a  bachelor  brother.  The 
brother  and  sister  lived  for  many  years  on  this  re- 
tired farm  in  one  of  the  valleys  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tains, caring  for  the  two  children  with  economy, 
prudence  and  the  most  ardent  affection.  The  farm- 
property  increased  in  value,  and  the  sister  and  mother 
had  no  doubt  that  she  could  leave  her  children  a 
comfortable  competence,  enough  to  educate  them 
and  help  them  to  an  independence  in  after  life. 
After  fourteen  years  had  elapsed,  the  uncle  visited 

51 


52  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  State  of  'New  York,  and  very  singularly  took  the 
idea  into  his  head  of  marriage,  and  returned  with  a 
young  and  handsome  wife,  who,  at  the  end  of  a  year, 
presented  him  with  a  son.  Stephen  was  at  this  time 
fifteen  years  old,  and  had  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  he  began  at  once  to  prepare  for 
college.  His  uncle  was  applied  to,  who  by  this  time 
began  to  grow  selfish,  and  desired  to  keep  his  pro- 
perty for  his  own  son,  and  he  very  frankly  informed 
the  young  man,  that  he  did  not  possess  property  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  him  in  getting  a  collegiate  education, 
and  he  advised  him  to  stay  at  work  upon  the  farm. 
The  farm  and  all  the  property  attached  to  it  was  held 
in  his  uncle's  name,  was  legally  his,  and  his  mother 
only  ppssessed  a  few  worn-out  acres,  barely  sufficient 
to  support  her  and  her  daughter.  Until  the  marriage 
of  her  brother,  she  had  not  dreamed  of  such  a  con- 
tingency and  had  relied  upon  their  joint  property  for- 
her  children,  who  had  been  great  favorites  with  the 
bachelor,  who  had  frequently  promised  them  all  he 
had.  In  this  change  of  circumstances,  young  Stephen 
did  not  long  hesitate  what  to  do,  but  apprenticed 
himself  to  a  cabinet-maker  in  Middlebury.  He  re- 
mained here  for  some  eight  months,  working  hard, 
but,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  he  came  to  some 
misunderstanding  with  his  employer,  and  left  him. 
He  came  back  to  his  native  town  and  entered  the 
cabinet-shop  of  one  Deacon  Knowltbn,  where  he  re- 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.  53 

mained  a  year,  making  French  bedsteads  of  hard, 
curled  maple,  -which  was  so  severe  labor  as  to  injure 
his  health.  He  was  now  obliged  to  leave  his  em- 
ployer, and,  while  waiting  to  regain  his  health,  he 
became  a  student  in  the  Brandon  Academy.  At  the 
end  of  another  year,  he  gave  up  all  hopes  of  being 
able  to  prosecute  the  cabinet  business,  and  deter- 
mined on  trying  to  get  an  education.  His  sister  had 
married  Julius  N.  Granger,  and  moved  to  Ontario 
County,  New  York.  His  mother,  a  little  later,  mar- 
ried her  daughter's  husband's  father,  Gehazi  Granger, 
and  Stephen  accompanied  her,  joining  the  Canandai- 
gua  Academy,  where  he  pursued  the  classical  course 
till  the  spring  of  1833.  At  the  same  time,  he  was 
also  studying  law  in  the  village  with  the  Messrs. 
Hubbell.  He  was  at  this  time,  though  young,  an 
ardent  politician,  and  gave  abundant  evidence  that 
politics  would,  in  after-life,  be  his  chosen  field  for 
action.  In  the  spring  of  1833,  he  turned  his  face 
westward,  and  entered  the  law-office  of  S.  T.  Andrews, 
then  a  member  of  Congress.  He  was  here  attacked 
with  a  bilious  fever,  and  was  ill  an  entire  summer, 
which  threw  him  out  of  his  place  and  used  up  his 
small  stock  of  funds.  When  he  finally  recovered, 
he  was  without  place  and  money,  and  in  a  situation 
which  would  completely  dishearten  most  young  men. 
He  started  on  westward,  and  seeing  no  good  open- 
ing, and  being  reduced  to  great  straits,  engaged  to 


54  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

teacli  a  school  in  the  village  of  Winchester,  Illinois. 
When  he  came  there,  he  had  but  thirty-seven  and  a 
half  cents  in  his  pocket,  but  by  a  fortunate  occurrence 
he  was  enabled  to  earn  a  few  dollars  as  clerk  before 
his  school  opened.  The  first  Monday  in  December, 
1833,  he  opened  his  school  of  forty  scholars,  at  a 
tuition  of  three  dollars  each.  He  studied  law  even- 
ings, and,  in  the  course  of  the  following  spring, 
opened  a  law-office  in  the  place,  having  obtained  a 
license  upon  examination  from  the  Supreme  Court 
judges.  He  sprang  at  once  into  the  full  tide  of  suc- 
cess, for  in  less  than  a  year  he  was  elected  State's 
Attorney  by  the  joint  vote  of  the  Legislature?  He 
was  but  twenty-two  years  of  age,  yet,  by  the  very 
nature  of  his  office,  he  was  pitted  against  the  ablest 
and  most  acute  lawyers  in  the  State.  Nothing  but 
the  most  untiring  industry  held  him  up  in  this  posi- 
tion. He  endeavored  to  make  up  for  his  lack  of 
experience  by  the  closest  study  and  application,  and 
he  very  naturally  exerted  himself  to  the  extent  of  all 
his  abilities.  The  result  was  that  he  attained  distin- 
guished success.  In  December,  1836,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of  his  State,  and  resigned  the 
office  of  State's  Attorney  to  sit  in  the  Legislature. 
He  was  the  youngest  member  of  the  House,  yet  he 
soon  created  for  himself  an  excellent  reputation  as  a 
legislator.  The  State  was  then  going  mad  with  specu- 
lation and  wild-cat  banking.  Mr.  Douglas  opposed 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  55 

the  banking  institutions — their  increase  in  any  shape 
or  manner — but  was  overborne  by  numbers.  The 
majority  were  in  favor  of  extending  the  then  vicious 
system  of  banking,  and  so  voted.  The  very  same 
year,  all  the  banks  suspended  specie  payments,  their 
paper  depreciated  to  a  frightful  extent,  and  after  a 
few  years  they  were  wound  up.  Mr.  Douglas  parti- 
cipated in  the  great  struggle  over  internal  improve- 
ments, giving  his  voice  and  vote  in  favor  of  any  plan 
of  public  works  which  would  stand  the  test  of  an 
examination.  No  public  man  could  go  through  this 
ordeal  without  making  enemies,  for  there  were  rival 
routes  for  canals,  rival  interests,  and  Mr.  Douglas 
was  too  outspoken  and  independent  not  to  take  sides 
upon  these  local  questions.  Of  course,  he  made  tem- 
porary enemies.  The  railroad  mania  now  began,  and 
Mr.  Douglas  favored  a  plan  which  put  the  public 
works  completely  in  the  power  of  the  State.  The 
other  plan  was  to  join  the  State  with  individual 
stockholders,  but  really  give  the  control  of  the  works 
to  the  private  stockholders,.  In  all  these  local  quar- 
rels Mr.  Douglas  participated  with  the  enthusiasm 
and  energy  which  have  always  been  characteristic  of 
the  man. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  Mr. 
Douglas  was  appointed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  Kegister  of  the  Land  Office  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois.  He  desired  to  return  to  the  law,  but 


56  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  acceptance  of  the  office  would  be  to  his  pecu- 
niary advantage,  and  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
accept. 

In  November  1837,  he  was  nominated  to  Congress 
by  a  Convention  of  the  Democratic  party  in  his  dis- 
trict. The  time  was  peculiarly  unfavorable  to  him, 
for  the  country  was  in  a  whirlpool  of  agitation  and 
the  Democratic  party  of  Illinois  on  many  questions 
of  the  day,  sided  with  the  Whigs,  and  were  against 
Mr.  Yan  Buren. 

The  election  took  place  in  August,  1838 — thirty-six- 
thousand  votes  were  cast — and  his  "Whig  opponent  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  five  votes  !  At  the  ensuing 
Presidential  election,  the  same  district  gave  Harrison 
a  majority  of  three  thousand  votes  over  Yan  Buren. 
Mr.  Douglas  devoted  himself  to  the  law  till  the 
Presidential  campaign  opened,  when  he  gave  himself 
zealously  up  to  that.  He  stumped  the  State  for  seven 
months  from  one  part  to'  the  other,  making  the 
acquaintance  of  almost  the  entire  people.  The  State 
went  democratic.  In  December,  1840,  Mr.  Douglas 
was  elected  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  February,  1841, 
was  elected  by  joint  vote  of  the  State  Legislature  a 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  was  now  but 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  at  first  resolved  to 
decline  this  fresh  honor ;  but,  upon  a  reconsideration, 
he  accepted  the  appointment,  though  it  was  to  his 
pecuniary  hurt. 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  57 

In  1843,  Mr.  Douglas's  health  became  so  impaired 
that  he  made  a  trip  into  the  Indian  country.  During 
his  absence  he  was  nominated  for  Congress  by  his 
friends,  and  when  he  returned  he  resigned  his  judg- 
ship  and  went  into  the  canvass  with  great  spirit. 
Himself  and  competitor  were  soon  prostrated  with 
bilious  fever,  and  they  were  unable  to  rise  from  their 
beds  on  election  day.  The  result  of  the  election 
was  the  triumph  of  Mr.  Douglas  by  four  hundred 
votes.  At  the  next  election  he  was  reflected  by 
nineteen  hundred  majority,  and  on  the  third  election 
by  twenty-nine  hundred  majority.  He  did  not  take 
his  seat  in  the  House  under  the  last  election,  for, 
before  the  time  came  for  the  Congress  to  meet,  he 
had  been  chosen  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  for  six  years, 
election  took  place  in  1847". 

In  April,  1847,  M.  Douglas  was  married  to  a  Miss 
Martin,  only  daughter  of  Col.  Robert  Martin,  of 
Buckingham  County  ISTorth  '  Carolina.  A  few  years 
since,  Mr.  Douglas  lost  his  wife,  and  in  the  winter  of 
1856-7  married  Miss  Cutts  of  "Washington,  his  pre- 
sent accomplished  wife.  By  his  first  wife  he  had 
several  children,  and  they  inherited  from  their 
mother  a  large  property  in  the  South,  consisting  of 
land  and  slaves. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Douglas  took  strong  ground  in  Illinois 
against  naturalization  as  a  necessary  pre-requisite  to 
voting.  He  contended  in  the  State  courts — for  the 

3*  « 


58  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

question  was  raised  there — that  though.  Congress  has 
the  exclusive  right  to  prescribe  uniform  naturaliza- 
tion laws,  yet  that  naturalization  has  necessarily  no 
connection  with  the  elective  franchise,  that  being  a 
privilege  granted  by  the  States.  Mr.  Douglas  tri- 
umphed through  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Illinois. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Douglas  opposed  the  Bankrupt  law  of 
the  time,  which  became  so  memorable.  In  the 
famous  Oregon  controversy  and  excitement  he 
belonged  to  the  "fifty-four  forty  or  fight  "  party,  and 
in  his  public  speeches,  as  well  as  in  private,  took  a 
very  determined  stand  against  the  pretensions  of 
Great  Britain.  Here  is  a  paragraph  from  a  speech 
of  his  in  the  House  at  this  time : 

"  It  therefore  becomes  us  to  put  this  nation  in  a 
state  of  defence ;  and  when  we  are  told  that  this 
will  lead  to  war,  all  I  have  to  say  is  this :  preserve 
the  honor  and  integrity  of  this  country,  but  at  the 
same  time  assert  our  right  to  the  last  inch,  and  then 
if  war  comes,  let  it  come.  We  may  regret  the  neces- 
sity which  produced  it,  but  when  it  does  come,  I 
would  administer  to  our  citizens  Hannibal's  oath  of 
eternal  enmity,  and  not  terminate  it  until  the  question 
was  all  settled  forever.  I  would  blot  out  the  lines 
on  the  map  which  now  mark  our  national  bounda- 
ries on  this  continent  and  make  the  area  of  liberty 
as  broad  as  the  continent  itself." 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  59 

To  show  the  position  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  the 
Oregon  question,  we  will  quote  two  paragraphs  from 
one  of  his  speeches : 

"  I  choose  to  be  frank  and  candid  in  this  declara- 
tion of  my  sentiments  on  this  question.  For  one,  I 
never  will  be  satisfied  with  the  valley  of  the  Colum- 
bia nor  with  49°,  nor  with  54°  40',  nor  will  I  be 
while  Great  Britain  shall  hold  possession  of  one  acre 
on  the  northwest  coast  of  America.  And  I  will 
never  agree  to  any  arrangement  that  shall  recognize 
her  right  to  one  inch  of  soil  upon  the  northwest 
coast ;  and  for  this  simple  reason.  Great  Britain 
never  did  own,  she  never  had  a  valid  title  to  one 
inch  of  that  country.  The  question  was  only  one  of 
dispute  between  Russia,  Spain  and  the  United  States. 
England  never  had  a  title  to  any  part  of  the  country. 
Our  Government  has  always  held  that  England  had 
no  title  to  it.  In  1826,  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  dispatches  to 
Mr.  Gallatin,  said,  '  it  is  not  conceived  that  the  Bri- 
tish Government  can  make  out  even  a  colorable  title 
to  any  part  of  the  northwest  coast !'.... 

"  The  value  of  the  Oregon  Territory  is  not  to  be 
measured  by  the  number  of  miles  upon  the  coast, 
whether  it  shall  terminate  at  49°,  or  at  54°  40', 
or  reach  to  61°  and  the  Arctic  Ocean.  It  does  not 
depend  on  the  character  of  the  country,  nor  the 
quality  of  the  soil.  It  is  true  that  consideration  is 
not  virtually  of  attention;  but  the  great  point  at 


60  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

issue — the  great  struggle  between  us  and  Great  Bri- 
tain— is  for  the  freedom  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  for  the 
trade  of  China  and  of  Japan,  of  the  East  Indies,  and 
for  the  maritime  ascendency  on  all  these  waters.  That 
is  the  great  point  at  issue  between  the  two  countries, 
and  the  settlement  of  this  Oregon  question  involves 
all  these  interests.  And  in  order  to  maintain  these 
interests,  and  secure  all  the  benefits  resulting  from 
them,  we  must  not  only  go  to  54°  40',  but  we  have 
got  to  exclude  Great  Britain  from  the  coast  in  toto" 

In  the  course  of  .the  debate  in  committee  of  the 
House  upon  resolutions  giving  notice  to  Great  Bri- 
tain of  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty  between  this 
country  and  Great  Britain,  Mr.  Ramsey  moved  to 
strike  out  all  after  the  word  resolved  (in  one  of  the 
resolutions)  and  insert,  "  That  the  Oregon  question  is 
no  longer  a  subject  of  negotiation  or  compromise." 
We  quote  from  the  record : 

"  Tellers  were  ordered  and  ten  members  passed 
between  them,  amid  shouts  of  laughter,  cries  of  54° 
40'  forever,  clapping  of  hands  and  stamping  of  feet, 
which  the  chairman  was  some  time  in  suppressing ; 
and  the  negative  vote  was  then  taken  and  stood  146. 
So  the  amendment  was  rejected" 

The  names  of  the  ten  "  fifty-four  forties,"  were  as 
follows : 

ARCHIBALD  BELL,  of  Arkansas. 
ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEPHEN    A.  DOUGLAS.  61 

WILLIAM  SAWYER,  of  Ohio. 
T.  B.  HOGE,  of  Illinois. 
ROBERT  SMITH,  of  Illinois. 
STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  of  Illinois. 

JOHN    A.    McCLEELAND,  " 

JOHN  WENTWORTH,  " 

CORNELIUS  DARKAH,  of  Pennsylvania. 
FELIX  S.  McCoNNEL,  of  Alabama. 

It  will  be  noticed,  that  then,  as  now,  Mr.  Douglas 
had  the  faculty  of  carrying  his  State  delegation  with 
him. 

Mr.  Douglas  has,  while  in  Congress,  favored  the 
appropriation  by  the  general  government  of  money  for 
internal  improvements  upon  the  Jackson  plan  of 
strictly  confining  such  appropriations  to  objects  of 
national  and  general,  not  of  State  or  local  impor- 
tance. 

He  has  frequently  voted  for  river  and  harbor  bills 
— voted  for  the  Independent  Treasury  bill,  and  has, 
in  and  out  of  Congress,  utterly  denied  the  power  of 
Congress  over  the  franchise  in  the  States.  Mr. 
Douglas  was  an  early  supporter  of  the  Mexican  war. 
"  He  opposed  the  incorporation  of  the~Wilmot  proviso 
into  the  two  or  three  million  bills.  He  believed  the 
people's  time  had  not  come  for  any  action  on  that 
subject.  Slavery  was  now  prohibited  in  Mexico.  If 
any  portion  of  that  country  should  be  annexed  to  the 
United  States  without  any  stipulation  being  made  on 
that  point,  the  existing  laws  would  remain  in  force. 


62  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

.  .  .  .  If  the  question  was  pressed  for  imme- 
diate decision,  he  could  perceive  no  other  mode  of 
harmonizing  conflicting  sentiments,  but  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Line." 

Mr.  Douglas  voted  to  bring  up  the  Homestead 
bill  which  was  before  the  last  Congress  and  which 
passed  the  House,  showing  that  he  is  in  favor  of  that 
important  measure. 

We  now  come  to  the  history  of  Mr.  Douglas  in 
connection  with  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill. 

The  battle  which  he  waged  with  his  political  oppo- 
nents and  won  upon  that  bill  is  so  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  all  our  readers  that  it  will  not  be  safe,  or 
necessary,  to  go  into  a  minute  history  of  the  struggle. 
In  the  winter  of  1852-3,  Mr.  Douglas  reported  a 
Nebraska  bill  from  the  Territorial  Committee  of 
which  he  was  chairman,  which  contained  no  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  or  enumeration  of  his 
peculiar  Popular  Sovereignty  doctrines.  In  the  great 
debate  over  the  compromise  measures  in  1850,  no 
one  ever  called  in  question  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
In  the  winter  of  1852-3,  Senator  Atchison,  of  Mis- 
souri, declared  in  his  seat  in  the  Senate  that  the 
Missouri  prohibition  could  never  be  repealed. 

The  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  as  reported  from  the 
Committee  appeared  first  without  any  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  restriction — on  the  7th  day  of  January  it 
was  first  presented.  On  the  16th,  Mr.  Dixon,  a 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  63 

Whig  senator  from  Kentucky,  proposed  an  amend- 
ment to  the  bill  reported  from  the  committee  which 
repealed  the  aforesaid  compromise.  This  movement 
was  at  first  opposed  by  leading  Democrats  and  their 
organ  the  Union,  but  in  a  very  few  days  Mr.  Douglas, 
either  because  he  saw  the  justice  of  the  repeal  of  the 
restriction  or  thought  it  would  advance  his  political 
interests,  acquiesced  in  the  amendment  and  made  it 
a  part  of  his  bill.  We  make  a  few  brief  extracts 
from  Mr.  Douglas's  argument  in  the  Senate,  Jan.  30, 
1854,  in  support  of  his  bill : 

"  Sir,  I  wish  you  to  bear  in  mind,  too,  that  this  geographi- 
cal line,  established  by  the  founders  of  the  Republic  between 
free  territories  and  slave  territories,  extended  as  far  west- 
ward as  our  territory  then  reached  ;  the  object  being  to 
avoid  all  agitation  upon  the  slavery  question  by  settling  that 
question  forever,  as  far  as  our  territory  extended,  which  was 
then  to  the  Mississippi  River. 

"When,  in  1803,  we  acquired  from  France  the  territory 
known  as  Louisiana,  it  became  necessary  to  legislate  for  the 
protection  of  the  inhabitants  residing  therein.  It  will  be 
seen  by  looking  into  the  bill  establishing  the  territorial  govern- 
ment in  1805  for  the  territory  of  New  Orleans,  embracing 
the  same  country  now  known  as  the  State  of  Louisiana, 
that  the  ordinance  of  It8t  was  expressly  extended  to  that 
territory,  excepting  the  sixth  section,  which  prohibited 
slavery.  Then  that  act  implied  that  the  Territory  of  New 
Orleans  was  to  be  a  slaveholding  territory,  by  making  that 
exception  in  the  law.  But,  sir,  when  they  came  to  form 
what  was  then  called  the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  subse- 
quently known  as  the  Territory  of  Missouri,  north  of  the 


64:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

thirty-third  parallel,  they  used  different  language.  They  did 
not  extend  the  ordinance  of  1187  to  it  at  all.  They  first 
provided  that  it  should  be  governed  by  laws  made  by  the 
governor  and  the  judges,  and  when,  in  1812,  Congress  gave 
to  that  territory,  lender  the  name  of  the  Territory  of  Mis- 
souri, a  territorial  government,  the  people  were  allowed  to  do 
as  they  pleased  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  subject  only  to 
the  limitations  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Now,  what  is  the  inference  from  that  legislation  ?  That 
slavery  was,  by  implication,  recognized  south  of  the  thirty- 
third  parallel ;  and  north  of  that,  the  people  were  left  to 
exercise  their  own  judgment  and  do  as  they  pleased  upon  the 
subject,  without  any  implication  for  or  against  the  existence 
of  the  institution. 

"This  continued  to  be  the  condition  of  the  country  in  the 
Missouri  territory  up  to  1820,  when  the  celebrated  act  which 
is  now  called  the  Missouri  Compromise  act  was  passed. 
Slavery  did  not  exist  in,  nor  was  it  excluded  from  the  coun- 
try now  known  as  Nebraska.  There  was  no  code  of  laws 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery  either  way :  First,  for  the  reason 
that  slavery  had  never  been  introduced  into  Louisiana  and 
established  by  positive  enactment.  It  had  grown  up  there 
by  a  sort  of  common  law,  and  been  supported  and  protected. 
When  a  common  law  grows  up,  when  an  institution  becomes 
established  under  a  usage,  it  carries  it  so  far  as  that  usage 
actually  goes,  and  no  further.  If  it  had  been  established  by 
direct  enactment,  it  might  have  carried  it  so  far  as  the  politi- 
cal jurisdiction  extended  ;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  by  the  act 
of  1812,  creating  the  territory  of  Missouri,  that  territory 
was  allowed  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  as  it  saw 
proper,  subject  only  to  the  limitations  which  I  have  stated  ; 
and  the  country  not  inhabited  or  thrown  open  to  settlement 
was  set  apart  as  Indian  country  and  rendered  subject  to 
Indian  laws.  Hence,  the  local  legislation  of  the  State  of 
Missouri  did  not  reach  into  that  Indian  country,  but  was 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  65 

excluded  from  it  by  the  Indian  code  and  Indian  laws.  The 
municipal  regulations  of  Missouri  could  not  go  there  until  the 
Indian  title  had  been  extinguished  and  the  country  thrown 
open  to  settlement.  Such  being  the  case,  the  only  legislation 
in  existence  in  Nebraska  territory  at  the  time  that  the  Mis- 
souri act  passed,  namely,  the  6th  of  March,  1820,  was  a 
provision,  in  effect,  that  the  people  should  be  allowed  to  do 
as  they  pleased  upon  the  subject  of  slavery. 

"  The  territory  of  Missouri  having  been  left  in  that  legal 
condition,  positive  opposition  was  made  to  the  bill  to  organize 
a  state  government,  with  a  view  to  its  admission  into  the 
Union  ;  and  a  senator  from  my  State,  Mr.  Jesse  B.  Thomas, 
introduced  an  amendment,  known  as  the  eighth  section  of  the 
bill,  in  which  it  was  provided  that  slavery  should  be  pro- 
hibited north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude,  in  all  that  coun- 
try which  we  had  acquired  from  France.  What  was  the 
object  of  the  enactment  of  that  eighth  section  ?  Was  it  not 
to  go  back  to  the  original  policy  of  prescribing  boundaries  to 
the-  limitation  of  free  institutions,  and  of  slave  institutions,  by 
a  geographical  line,  in  order  to  avoid  all  controversy  in  Con- 
gress upon  the  subject  ?  Hence,  they  extended  that  geogra- 
phical line  through  all  the  territory  purchased  from  France, 
which  was  as  far  as  our  possessions  then  reached.  It  was 
not  simply  to  settle  the  question  on  that  piece  of  country, 
but  it  was  to  carry  out  a  great  principle,  by  extending  that 
dividing  line  as  far  west  as  our  territory  went,  and  running  it 
onward  on  each  new  acquisition  of  territory.  True,  the  ex- 
press enactment  of  the  eighth  section  of  the  Missouri  act, 
now  called  the  Missouri  Compromise  act,  only  covered  the  ter- 
ritory acquired  from  France  ;  but  the  principles  of  the  act, 
the  objects  of  its  adoption,  the  reasons  in  its  support,  required 
that  it  should  be  extended  indefinitely  westward,  so  far  as 
our  territory  might  go,  whenever  new  purchases  should  be 
made. 

"Thus  stood  the  question  up  to  1845,  when  the  joint 


66  PBESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES. 

resolution  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  passed.  There  was 
inserted  in  that  a  provision,  suggested  in  the  first  instance 
and  brought  before  the  House  of  Representatives  by  myself, 
extending  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  indefinitely  westward 
through  the  territory  of  Texas.  Why  did  I  bring  forward 
that  proposition  ?  "Why  did  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  adopt  it  ?  Not  because  it  was  of  the  least  practical 
importance,  so  far  as  the  question  of  slavery  within  the  limits 
of  Texas  was  concerned  ;  for  no  man  ever  dreamed  that  it 
had  any  practical  effect  there.  Then,  why  was  it  brought 
forward  ?  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  principle, 
in  order  that  it  might  be  extended  still  further  westward, 
even  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  whenever  we  should  the  acquire 
country  that  far.  I  will  here  read  that  clause  in  the  joint 
resolution  for  the  annexation  of  Texas.  It  is  the  third 
article,  second  section,  and  is  in  these  words  : 

" '  Xew  States,  of  convenient  size,  not  exceeding  four  in 
number,  in  addition  to  said  State  of  Texas,  having  sufficient 
population,  may  hereafter,  by  the  consent  of  said  State,  be 
formed  out  of  the  territory  thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to 
admission  under  the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
And  such  States  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion  of 
said  territory,  lying  south  of  36  °  30'  north  latitude, 
commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  the 
people  of  each  State  asking  admission  may  desire.  And  in 
such  State  or  States  as"  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  territory 
north  of  said  Missouri  Compromise  line,  slavery  or  involun- 
tary servitude  (except  for  crime)  shall  be  prohibited." 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  that  contains  a  very  remarkable 
provision,  which  is,  that  when  States  lying  north  of  36° 
30 '  apply  for  admission,  slavery  shall  be  prohibited  in 
their  constitutions.  I  presume  no  one  pretends  that  Con- 
gress could  have  power  thus  to  fetter  a  State  applying  for 
admission  into  this  Union ;  but  it  was  necessary  to 


STEPHEN    A.  DOUGLAS.  67 

preserve  the  principle  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  in 
order  that  it  might  afterward  be  extended,  and  it  was  sup- 
posed that  while  Congress  had  no  power  to  impose  any  such 
limitation,  yet,  as  that  was  a  compact  with  the  State  of 
Texas,  that  State  could  consent  for  herself,  that,  when  any 
portion  of  her  own  territory,  subject  to  her  own  jurisdiction 
and  control,  applied  for  a  constitution,  it  should  be  in  a  par- 
ticular form  ;  but  that  provision  would  not  be  binding  on  the 
new  State  one  day  after  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  other  provision  was,  that  such  States  as  should  lie 
south  of  36  °  30 '  min.  should  come  into  the  Union  with  or 
without  slavery,  as  each  should  decide,  in  its  constitution. 
Then,  by  that  act,  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  extended 
indefinitely  westward,  so  far  as  the  State  of  Texas  went, 
that  is,  to  the  Rio  del  Norte  ;  for  our  Government  at  the 
tune  recognized  the  Rio  del  Norte  as  its  boundary.  We 
recognized  it,  in  many  ways,  and  among  them  by  even  paying 
Texas  for  it,  in  order  that  it  might  be  included  in  and  form 
a  portion  of  the  territory  of  New  'Mexico. 

"  Then,  sir,  in  1848,  we  acquired  from  Mexico  the  country 
between  the  Rio  del  Norte  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Immedi- 
ately after  that  acquisition,  the  Senate,  on  my  own  motion, 
voted  into  a  bill  a  provision  to  extend  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise indefinitely  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  the  same 
sense  and  with  the  same  understanding  with  which  it  was  ori-  • 
ginally  adopted.  That  provision  passed  this  body  by  a  decided 
majority,  I  think  by  ten  at  least,  and  went  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  was  defeated  there  by  northern  votes. 

"  Now,  sir,  let  us  pause  and  consider  for  a  moment.  The 
first  time  that  the  principles  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
were  ever  abandoned,  the  first  time  they  were  ever  rejected 
by  Congress,  was  by  the  defeat  of  that  provision  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  1848.  By  whom  was  that  defeat  effect- 
ed ?  By  northern  votes  with  free  soil  proclivities.  It 
was  the  defeat  of  that  Missouri  Compromise  that  reopened 


68  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  slavery  agitation  with  all  its  fury.  It  was  the  defeat 
of  that  Missouri  Compromise  that  created  the  tremendous 
struggle  of  1850.  It  was  the  defeat  of  that  Missouri  Com- 
promise that  created  the  necessity  for  making  a  new  compro- 
mise in  1850.  Had  we  been  faithful  to  the  principles  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  in  1848,  this  question  would  not  have 
arisen.  Who  was  it  that  was  faithless  ?  I  undertake  to  say 
it  was  the  very  men  who  now  insist  that  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  a  solemn  compact,  and  should  never  be  violated 
or  departed  from.  Every  man  who  is  now  assailing  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  bill  under  consideration,  so  far  as  I  am  advised, 
was  opposed  to  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1848.  The 
very  men  who  now  arraign  me  for  a  departure  from  the 
Missouri  Compromise  are  the  men  who  successfully  violated 
it,  repudiated  it,  and  caused  it  to  be  superseded  by  the 
compromise  measures  of  1850.  Sir,  it  is  with  rather  bad 
grace  that  the  men  who  proved  false  themselves  should 
charge  upon  me  and  others,  who  were  over  faithful,  the 
responsibilities  and  consequences  of  their  own  treachery. 

"  Then,  sir,  as  I  before  remarked,  the  defeat  of  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  in  1848  having  created  the  necessity  for 
the  establishment  of  a  new  one  in  1850,  let  us  see  what  that 
Compromise  was. 

"  Mr.  President,  I  repeat  that  so  far  as  the  question  of 
slavery  is  concerned,  there  is  nothing  in  the  bill  under  consid- 
eration which  does  not  carry  out  the  principle  of  the  com- 
promise measures  of  1850,  by  leaving  the  people  to  do  as 
they  please,  subject  only  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  If  that  principle  is  wrong,  the  bill  is 
wrong.  If  that  principle  is  right,  the  bill  is  right.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  quibble  about  phraseology  or  words  ;  'it  is  not 
the  mere  words,  the  mere  phraseology,  that  our  constituents 
wish  to  judge  by.  They  wish  to  know  the  legal  effect  of  our 
legislation. 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  69 

"  The  legal  effect  of  this  bill,  if  it  be  passed  ag  reported 
by  the  Committee  on  Territories,  is  neither  to  legislate  slavery 
into  these  territories,  nor  out  of  them  ;  but  to  leave  the  peo- 
ple to  do  as  they  please,  under  the  provisions  and  subject  to 
the  limitations  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Why  should  not  this  principle  prevail  ?  Why  should  any 
man,  North  or  South,  object  to  it  ?  I  will  especially  address 
the  argument  to  my  own  section  of  country,  and  ask  why 
should  any  northern  man  object  to  this  principle  ?  If  you 
will  review  the  history  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  United 
States,  you  will  see  that  all  the  great  results  in  behalf  of  free 
institutions  which  have  been  worked  out,  have  been  accom- 
plished by  the  operation  of  this  principle  and  by  it  alone. 

"  When  these  States  were  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  every 
one  of  them  was  a  slaveholding  province.  When  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  was  formed,  twelve  out  of  the 
thirteen  were  slaveholding  States.  Since  that  time  six  of 
those  States  have  become  free.  How  has  this  been  effected  ? 
Was  it  by  virtue  of  abolition  agitation  in  Congress  ?  Was 
it  hi  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  the  Federal  Government  ? 
Not  at  all  ;  but  they  have  become  free  States  under  the 
silent  but  sure  and  irresistible  working  of  that  great  princi- 
ple of  self-government,  which  teaches  every  people  to  do  that 
which  the  interests  of  themselves  and  their  posterity,  morally 
and  pecuniarily,  may  require. 

"  Under  the  operation  of  this  principle,  New  Hampshire 
became  free,  while  South  Carolina  continued  to  hold  slaves  ; 
Connecticut  abolished  slavery,  while  Georgia  held  on  to  it  ; 
Rhode  Island  abandoned  the  institution,  while  Maryland  pre- 
served it  ;  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  abol- 
ished slavery,  while  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Kentucky, 
retained  it.  Did  they  do  it  at  your  bidding  !  Bid  they  do 
it  at  the  dictation  of  the  Federal  Government  ?  Did  they 
do  it  in  obedience  to  any  of  your  Wilmot  Provisoes  or  Ordi- 
nances of  '87  ?  Not  at  all ;  they  did  it  by  virtue  of  their 


70  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

rights  as  freemen  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
to  establish  and  abolish  such  institutions  as  they  thought 
their  own  good  required. 

"The  leading  feature  of  the  Compromise  of  1850  was 
Congressional  non-intervention  as  to  slavery  in  the  territories; 
that  the  people  of  the  territories  and  of  all  the  States,  were 
to  be  allowed  to  do  as  they  pleased  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  subject  only  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

"  That,  sir,  was  the  leading  feature  of  the  compromise 
measures  of  1850.  Those  measures,  therefore,  abandoned  the 
idea  of  a  geographical  line  as  a  boundary  between  free  States 
and  slave  States — abandoned  it  because  compelled  to  do 
it  from  an  inability  to  maintain  it — and  in  lieu  of  that 
substituted  a  great  principle  of  self-government,  which  would 
allow  the  people  to  do  as  they  thought  proper.  Now  the 
question  is,  when  that  new  compromise,  resting  upon  that  great 
fundamental  principle  of  freedom,  was  established, was  it  not  an 
abandonment  of  the  old  one — the  geographical  line  ?  Was 
it  not  a  supersedure  of  the  old  one,  within  the  very  language 
of  the  substitute  for  the  bill  which  is  now  under  consideration? 
I  say  it  did  supersede  it,  because  it  applied  its  provisions  as 
well  to  the  north  as  to  the  south  of  36°  30'.  It  estab- 
lished a  principle  which  was  equally  applicable  to  the  coun- 
try north  as  well  as  south  of  the  parallel  of  36°  30' — a 
principle  of  universal  application." 

Mr.  Douglas's  bill  passed  both  branches  of  Con- 
gress and  became  a  law,  after  passing  through  a 
severe  ordeal  both  in  Congress  and  before  the  people. 
Its  passage  gave  the  popular  branch  of  the  next  Con- 
gress into  the  control  of  Mr.  Douglas's  political  ene- 
mies, for  the  bill  in  a  majority  of  the  free  States  was 
very  unpopular. 


STEPHEN    A.  DOUGLAS.  71 

On  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1857,  Mr.  Doug- 
las took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  with  many  anxious 
eyes  upon  him,  for  it  had  already  been  rumored  that 
he  would  differ  with  the  administration  upon  its  con- 
duct of  Kansas  affairs,  and  would  take  issue  with  the 
President  in  his  forthcoming  message.  Rumor  was 
right — the  message  was  read — it  did  in  effect  recom- 
mend the  indorsement  of  the  Lecompton  Constitu- 
tion—and Mr.  Douglas  had  the  courage  and  boldness  to 
stand  up  in  defence  of  his  peculiar  doctrines  of  popular 
sovereignty,  which  he  thought  had  been  violated  by 
the  Lecompton  Constitution.  His  great  opening  speech 
was  delivered  on  the  ninth  of  December,  1857.  The 
President's  message  had  been  read  the  day  previous  and 
Mr.  Douglas  had  indicated  his  purpose  on  the  next 
day  to  speak  upon  it.  Accordingly  when  the  Senate 
assembled  on  Tuesday,  the  old  Senate-hall  was 
crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity  and  hundreds  were 
unable  to  effect  an  entrance.  The  curiosity  of  the 
public  to  learn  the  position  which  the  Illinois  senator 
would  take  upon  this  important  question  was  intense, 
and  many  of  the  members  of  the  house  were  present. 
Mr.  D.  rose,  apparently  as  cool  as  he  ever  was  in  his 
life,  although,  in  the  opinion  of  some  of  his  Demo- 
cratic friends,  his  decision,  which  after  careful  thought 
he  had  reached,  to  oppose  the  Lecompton  Constitu- 
tion, would  ruin  all  his  political  prospects.  He  began 
by  quoting  the  peculiar  language  of  the  President's 


72  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

message,  and,  perhaps  in  a  vein  of  irony,  contended 
that  the  President  was  opposed  to  this  Lecompton 
Constitution,  which,  though  under  the  circumstances 
he  was  for  accepting,  he  did  not  like.  It  was  evident 
that  the  President,  in  his  absence  at  a  foreign  court, 
had  fallen  into  an  error  in  reference  to  the  principle  of 
the  Nebraska  bill.  We  now  quote  Mr.  Douglas : 

"  Now,  sir,  what  was  the  principle  enunciated  by  the 
authors  and  supporters  of  that  bill,  when  it  was  brought  for- 
ward ?  Did  we  not  come  before  the  country  and  say  that 
we  repealed  the  Missouri  restriction  for  the  purpose  of  sub- 
stituting and  carrying  out  as  a  general  rule  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  self-government,  which  left  the  people  of  each  State 
and  each  Territory  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic 
institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  ?  In.  support  of  that  proposition,  it 
was  argued  here,  and  I  have  argued  it  wherever  I  have 
spoken  in  various  States  of  the  Union,  at  home  and  abroad, 
everywhere  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  there  was  no 
reason  why  an  exception  should  be  made  in  regard  to  the 
slavery  question.  I  have  appealed  to  the  people,  if  we  did 
not  all  agree,  men  of  all  parties,  that  all  other  local  and 
domestic  questions  should  be  submitted  to  the  people.  I 
said  to  them,  '  We  agree  that  the  people  shall  decide  for 
themselves  what  kind  of  a  judiciary  system  they  will  have  ; 
we  agree  that  the  people  shall  decide  what  kind  of  a  school 
system  they  will  establish  ;  we  agree  that  the  people  shall 
determine  for  themselves  what  kind  of  a  banking  system  they 
will  have,  or  whether  they  will  have  any  banks  at  all  ;  we 
agree  that  the  people  may  decide  for  themselves  what  shall 
be  the  elective  franchise  in  their  respective  States  ;  they 
shall  decide  for  themselves  what  shall  be  the  rule  of  taxation 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  73 

and  the  principles  upon  which  their  finance  shall  be  regu- 
lated ;  we  agree  that  they  may  decide  for  themselves  the 
relations  between  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  guar- 
dian and  ward  ;  and  why  should  we  not  then  allow  them  to 
decide  for  themselves  the  relations  between  master  and  ser- 
vant ?  "Why  make  an  exception  of  the  slavery  question,  by 
taking  it  out  of  that  great  rule  of  self-government  which 
applies  to  all  the  other  relations  of  life  ?  The  very  first 
proposition  in  the  Nebraska  bill  was  to  show  that  the  Mis- 
souri restriction,  prohibiting  the  people  from  deciding  the 
slavery  question  for  themselves,  constituted  an  exception  to 
a  general  rule,  in  violation  of  the  principle  of  self-government ; 
and  hence  that  that  exception  should  be  repealed,  and  the 
slavery  question,  like  all  other  questions,  submitted  to  the 
people,  to  be  decided  for  themselves. 

"  Sir,  that  was  the  principle  on  which  the  Nebraska 
bill  was  defended  by  its  friends.  Instead  of  making  the 
slavery  question  an  exception,  it  removed  an  odious  excep- 
tion which  before  existed.  Its  whole  object  was  to  abolish 
that  odious  exception,  and  make  the  rule  general,  uni- 
versal in  its  application  to  all  matters  which  were  local 
and  domestic,  and  not  national  or  federal.  For  this  reason 
was  the  language  employed  which  the  President  has  quoted  ; 
that  the  eighth  section  of  the  Missouri  act,  commonly  called 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  was  repealed,  because  it  was 
repugnant  to  the  principle  of  non-intervention,  established  by 
the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  'it  being  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  this  act,  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any 
territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave 
the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.'  We  repealed  the  Mis- 
souri restriction  because  that  was  confined  to  slavery.  That 
was  the  only  exception  there  was  to  the  general  principle  of 
self-government.  That  exception  was  taken  away  for  the 

4 


74  PKESIDENTTAL   CANDIDATES. 

avowed  and  express  purpose  of  making  the  rule  of  self-govern- 
ment general  and  universal,  so  that  the  people  should  form 
and  regulate  all  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way. 

"  Sir,  what  would  this  boasted  principle  of  popular 
sovereignty  have  been  worth,  if  it  applied  only  to  the  negro, 
and  did  not  extend  to  the  white  man  ?  Do  you  think  we 
could  have  aroused  the  sympathies  and  the  patriotism  of  this 
broad  Republic,  and  have  carried  the  Presidential  election 
last  year,  in  the  face  of  a  tremendous  opposition,  on  the 
principle  of  extending  the  right  of  self-government  to  the 
negro  question,  but  denying  it  as  to  all  the  relations  affecting 
white  men  ?  No,  sir.  We  aroused  the  patriotism  of  the 
country  and  carried  the  election  in  defence  of  that  great 
principle,  which  allowed  all  white  men  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  to  suit  themselves — institutions 
applicable  to  white  men  as  well  as  to  black  men — institutions 
applicable  to  freemen  as  well  as  to  slaves — institutions  con- 
cerning all  the  relations  of  life,  and  not  the  mere  paltry 
exception  of  the  slavery  question. 

"  Sir,  I  have  spent  too  much  strength  and  breath,  and 
health,  too,  to  establish  this  great  principle  in  the  popular 
heart,  now  to  see  it  frittered  away  by  bringing  it  down  to  an 
exception  that  applies  to  the  negro,  and  does  not  extend  to 
the  benefit  of  the  white  man. 

"  So  far  as  the  act  of  the  territorial  Legislature  of  Kansas, 
calling  this  convention,  was  concerned,  I  have  always  been 
under  the  impression  that  it  was  fair  and  just  in  its  provi- 
sions. I  have  always  thought  the  people  should  have  gone 
together,  en  masse,  and  voted  for  delegates,  so  that  the  voice 
expressed  by  the  convention  should  have  been  the  unques- 
tioned and  united  voice  of  the  people  of  Kansas.  I  have 
always  thought  that  those  who  stayed  away  from  that  elec- 
tion stood  in  their  own  light,  and  should  have  gone  and 
voted,  and  should  have  furnished  their  names  to  be  put  on  the 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  75 

registered  list,  so  as  to  be  voters.  I  have  always  held  that 
it  was  their  own  fault  that  they  did  not  thus  go  and  vote  ; 
but  yet,  if  they  chose,  they  had  a  right  to  stay  away.  They 
had  a  right  to  say  that  that  convention,  although  not  an 
unlawful  assemblage,  is  not  a  legal  convention  to  make  a 
government,  and  hence  we  are  under  no  obligation  to  go 
and  express  any  opinion  about  it.  They  had  a  right  to  say, 
if  they  chose,  '  We  will  stay  away  until  we  see  the  Constitu- 
tion they  shall  frame,  the  petition  they  shall  send  to  Con- 
gress ;  and  when  they  submit  it  to  us  for  ratification,  we  will 
vote  for  it  if  we  like  it,  or  vote  it  down  if  we  do  not  like  it.' 
I  say  they  had  a  right  to  do  either,  though  I  thought,  and 
think  yet,  as  good  citizens,  they  ought  to  have  gone  and 
voted  ;  but  that  was  their  business,  and  not  mine. 

"  Having  thus  shown  that  the  convention  at  Lecompton 
had  no  power,  no  authority,  to  form  and  establish  a  govern- 
ment, but  had  power  to  draft  a  petition,  and  that  petition,  if 
it  embodied  the  will  of  the  people  of  Kansas,  ought  to  be 
taken  as  such  an  exposition  of  their  will,  yet,  if  it  did  not 
embody  their  will,  ought  to  be  rejected.  Having  shown 
these  facts,  let  me  proceed  and  inquire  what  was  the  under- 
standing of  the  people  of  Kansas  when  the  delegates  were 
elected  ?  I  understand,  from  the  history  of  the  transaction, 
that  the  people  who  voted  for  delegates  to  the  Lecompton 
Convention,  and  those  who  refused  to  vote,  both  parties, 
understood  the  Territorial  act  to  mean  that  they  were  to  be 
elected  only  to  frame  a  constitution,  and  submit  it  to  the 
people  for  their  ratification  or  rejection.  I  say  that  both 
parties  in  that  territory,  at  the  time  of  the  election  of  dele- 
gates, so  understood  the  object  of  the  convention.  Those 
who  voted  for  delegates  did  so  with  the  understanding  that 
they  had  no  power  to  make  a  government,  but  only  to  frame 
one  for  submission  ;  and  those  who  stayed  away  did  so  with 
the  same  understanding. 

*  ***** 


76  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"Now,  let  us  stop  to  inquire  how  they  redeemed  the 
pledge  to  submit  the  constitution  to  the  people.  They  first 
go  on  and  make  a  constitution  ;  then  they  make  a  schedule, 
in  which  they  provide  that  the  constitution,  on  the  21st  of 
December,  the  present  month,  shall  be  submitted  to  all  the 
bona  fide  inhabitants  of  the  territory,  on  that  day,  for  their 
free  acceptance  or  rejection,  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit : 
Thus  acknowledging  that  they  were  bound  to  submit  it  to 
the  will  of  the  people,  conceding  that  they  had  no  right  to 
put  it  into  operation  without  submitting  it  to  the  people, 
providing  in  the  instrument  that  they  should  take  effect  from 
and  after  the  date  of  its  ratification,  and  not  before  ;  show- 
ing that  the  constitution  derives  its  vitality,  in  their  estima- 
tion, not  from  the  authority  of  the  convention,  but  from  that 
vote  of  the  people  to  which  it  was  to  be  submitted  for  their 
acceptance  or  rejection.  How  is  it  to  be  submitted  ?  It 
shall  be  submitted  in  this  form  :  '  Constitution  with  Slavery, 
or  Constitution  with  no  Slavery.'  All  men  must  vote  for  the 
constitution,  whether  they  like  it  or  not,  in  order  to  be  per- 
mitted to  vote  for  or  against  slavery.  Tims  a  constitution 
made  by  a  convention  that  had  authority  to  assemble  and 
petition  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  but  not  to  establish  a 
government.  A  constitution  made  under  a  pledge  of  honor 
that  it  should  be  submitted  to  the  people  before  it  took 
effect ;  a  constitution  which  provides  on  its  face,  that  it  shall 
have  no  validity,  except  what  it  derives  from  such  submis- 
sion, is  submitted  to  the  people  at  an  election  where  all  men 
are  at  liberty  to  come  forward  freely,  without  hindrance,  and 
vote  for  it,  but  no  man  is  permitted  to  record  a  vote  against  it. 

"  That  would  be  as  fair  an  election  as  some  of  the  enemies 
of  Napoleon  attributed  to  him  when  he  was  elected  first  con- 
sul. He  is  said  to  have  called  out  his  troops,  and  had  them 
reviewed  by  his  officers  with  a  speech,  patriotic  and  fair  in 
its  professions,  in  which  he  said  to  them  :  '  Now,  my  soldiers, 
you  are  to  go  to  the  election,  and  vote  freely  just  as  you 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  77 

please.  If  you  vote  for  Napoleon,  all  is  well ;  vote  against 
him,  and  you  are  to  be  instantly  shot.'  That  was  a  fair  elec- 
tion. This  election  is  to  be  equally  fair.  All  men  in  favor 
of  the  constitution  may  vote  for_it — all  men  against  it  shall 
not  vote  at  all.  Why  not  let  them  vote  against  it  ?  I  pre- 
sume you  have  asked  many  a  man  this  question.  I  have 
asked  a  very  large  number  of  the  gentlemen  who  framed  the 
constitution,  quite  a  number  of  the  delegates,  and  a  still 
larger  number  of  persons  who  are  their  friends,  and  I  have 
received  the  same  answer  from  every  one  of  them.  I  never 
received  any  other  answer,  and  I  presume  we  never  shall  get 
any  other  answer.  What  is  that  ?  They  say,  if  they  allowed 
a  negative  vote,  the  constitution  would  have  been  voted  down 
by  an  overwhelming  majority,  and  hence  the  fellows  shall  not 
be  allowed  to  vote  at  all. 

"  Let  me  ask  you,  why  force  this  constitution  down  the 
throats  of  the  people  of  Kansas,  in  opposition  to  their  wishes 
and  in  violation  of  our  pledges.  What  great  object  is  to  be 
attained  ?  Cui  bono  1  What  are  you  to  gam  by  it  !  Will 
you  sustain  the  party  by  violating  its  principles  ?  Do  you 
propose  to  keep  the  party  united  by  forcing  a  division  ?  Stand 
by  the  doctrine  that  leaves  the  people  perfectly  free  to  form 
and  regulate  their  institutions  for  themselves,  in  their  own 
way,  and  your  party  will  be  united  and  irresistible  in  power. 
Abandon  that  great  principle,  and  the  party  is  not  worth 
saving,  and  cannot  be  saved  after  it  shall  be  violated.  I 
trust  we  are  not  to  be  rushed  upon  this  question.  Why  shall 
it  be  done  ?  Who  Is  to  be  benefited  ?  Is  the  South  to  be 
the  gainer  ?  Is  the  North  to  be  the  gamer  ?  Neither  the 
North  nor  the  South  has  the  right  to  gain  a  sectional  advan- 
tage by  trickery  or  fraud. 

"  But  I  am  beseech ed  to  wait  until  I  hear  from  the  elec- 
tion, on  the  21st  of  December.  I  am  told  that  perhaps  that 
will  put  it  all  right,  and  will  save  the  whole  difficulty.  How 


78  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

can  it  ?  Perhaps  there  may  be  a  large  vote.  There  may 
be  a  large  vote  returned.  But  I  deny  that  it  is  possible  to 
have  a  fair  vote  on  the  slavery  clause  ;  and  I  say  that  it  is 
not  possible  to  have  any  vote  on  the  constitution.  Why  wait 
for  the  mockery  of  an  election,  when  it  is  provided,  unalter- 
ably, that  the  people  cannot  vote  when  the  majority  are  dis- 
franchised ? 

"  But  I  am  told  on  all  sides,  '  Oh,  just  wait ;  the  pro- 
slavery  clause  will  be  voted  down.'  That  does  not  obviate 
any  of  my  objections  ;  it  does  not  diminish  any  of  them.  You 
have  no  more  right  to  force  a  free-State  constitution  on 
Kansas  than  a  slave-State  constitution.  If  Kansas  wants  a 
slave-State  constitution,  she  has  a  right  to  it  ;  if  she  wants  a 
free-State  constitution  she  has  a  right  to  it.  It  is  none  of  my 
business  which  way  the  slavery  clause  is  decided.  I  care  not 
whether  it  is  voted  down  or  voted  up.  Do  you  suppose,  after 
the  pledge  of  my  honor  that  I  would  go  for  that  principle,  and 
leave  the  people  to  vote  as  they  chose,  that  I  would  now  de- 
grade myself  by  voting  one  way  if  the  slavery  clause  be  voted 
down,  and  another  way  if  it  be  voted  up  ?  I  care  not  how 
that  vote  may  stand.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  it  will  be 
voted  out.  I  think  I  have  seen  enough  in  the  last  three  days 
to  make  it  certain  that  it  will  be  returned  out,  no  matter  how 
the  vote  may  stand. 

"  Sir,  I  am  opposed  to  that  concern,  because  it  looks  to  me 
like  a  system  of  trickery  and  jugglery  to  defeat  the  fair  ex- 
pression of  the  will  of  the  people.  There  is  no  necessity  for 
crowding  this  measure,  so  unfair,  so  unjust  as  it  is  in  all  its 
aspects,  upon  us.  Why  can  we  not  now  do  what  we  pro- 
posed to  do  in  the  last  Congress  ?  We  then  voted  through 
the  Senate  an  enabling  act,  called  '  the  Toombs  bill,'  believed 
to  be  just  and  fair  in  all  its  provisions,  pronounced  to  be  almost 
perfect  by  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr.  Hale), 
only  he  did  not  like  the  man,  then  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  would  have  to  make  the  appointments.  Why 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.  79 

can  we  not  take  that  bill,  and,  out  of  compliment  to  the  Pre- 
sident, add  to  it  a  clause  taken  from  the  Minnesota  act,  which 
he  thinks  should  be  a  general  rule,  requiring  the  constitution 
to  be  submitted  to  the  people,  and  pass  that  ?  That  unites 
the  party.  You  all  voted,  with  me,  for  that  bill,  at  the  last 
Congress.  Why  not  stand  by  the  same  bill  now  ?  Ignore 
Lecompton,  ignore  Topeka  ;  treat  both  those  party  move- 
ments as  irregular  and  void  ;  pass  a  fair  bill — the  one  that 
we  framed  ourselves  when  we  were  acting  as  a  unit  ;  have  a 
fair  election,  and  you  will  hare  peace  in  the  Democratic  party, 
and  peace  throughout  the  country,  in  ninety  days.  The  peo- 
ple want  a  fair  vote.  They  never  will  be  satisfied  without  it. 
They  never  should  be  satisfied  without  a  fair  vote  on  their 
constitution. 

"  If  the  Toombs  bill  does  not  suit  my  friends,  take  the 
Minnesota  bill  of  the  last  session — the  one  so'  much  com- 
mended by  the  President  in  his  message  as  a  model.  Let  us 
pass  that  as  an  enabling  act,  and  allow  the  people  of  all 
parties  to  come  together  and  have  a  fair  vote,  and  I  will  go 
or  it.  Frame  any  other  bill  that  secures  a  fair,  honest  vote, 
to  men  of  all  parties,  and  carries  out  the  pledge  that  the  peo- 
ple shall  be  left  free  to  decide  on  their  domestic  institutions, 
for  themselves,  and  I  will  go  with  you  with  pleasure,  and 
with  all  the  energy  I  may  possess.  But  if  this  constitution 
is  to  be  forced  down  our  throats  in  violation  of  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  free  government,  under  a  mode  of  submis- 
sion that  is  a  mockery  and  insult,  I  will  resist  it  to  the  last. 
I  have  no  fear  of  any  party  associations  being  severed.  I 
should  regret  any  social  or  political  estrangement,  even  tem- 
porarily ;  but  if  it  must  be,  if  I  cannot  act  with  you  and  pre- 
serve my  faith  and  my  honor;  I  will  stand  on  the  great 
principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  which  declares  the  right  of 
all  people  to  be  left  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  then*  own  way.  I  will  follow  that 
principle  wherever  its  logical  consequences  may  take  me,  and 


80  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

I  will  endeavor  to  defend  it  against  assault  from  any  and  all 
quarters.  No  mortal  man  shall  be  responsible  for  my  action 
but  myself.  By  my  action  I  will  compromise  no  man." 

This  speech  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
country,  but  Mr.  Douglas  was  unable  to  carry  any 
considerable  portion  of  his  party  in  Congress  with 
him.  The  history  of  the  struggle  is  well  known. 
The  Republicans,  a  few  Democrats,  and  a  like  num- 
ber of  Americans,  united,  were  able  to  force  the 
administration  into  an  abandonment  of  the  original 
Lecompton  bill,  and  the  English  bill  was  substituted 
therefor.  This  bill  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Douglas ; 
but  inasmuch  as  it  gave  the  people  of  Kansas  the 
privilege  to  reject  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  it 
passed  by  a  small  majority. 

In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1858,  Mr.  Douglas 
went  through  a  terrible  ordeal  in  Illinois — a  cam- 
paign, the  issue  of  which  was  political  life  or  death  to 
him.  He  triumphed  by  a  small  majority — indeed 
the  majority  was  the  other  way  before  the  people — 
which  shows  that  Mr.  D.  was  wise  in  opposing  the 
Lecompton  measure,  for  if  he  had  supported  it,  and 
thus  trampled  upon  his  own  principle  of  Popular 
Sovereignty,  he  would  have  lost  his  election  by 
thousands  of  votes. 

"We  now  come  to  still  later  issues — to  the  discus- 
sion between  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  southern  enemies, 
in  the  last  session  of  the  thirty-fifth  Congress — the 


STEPHEN    A.  DOUGLAS.  81 

present  year — upon  Congressional  intervention  in 
favor  of  slavery.  This  great  debate  took  place  Feb. 
23,  1859,  in  the  Senate,  and  looked  like  a  precon- 
certed attack  upon  Mr.  Douglas  by  some  of  his 
southern  opponents.  "We  have  not  the  space  for  the 
official  report  of  the  debate,  and  will  endeavor  faith- 
fully to  abridge  it.  The  debate  opened  on  an  amend- 
ment by  Senator  Hale  to  the  Appropriation  bill 
before  the  Senate  to  repeal  the  restrictive  clause  of 
the  Kansas  Admission  act.  This  amendment  was 
offered  the  day  previous,  and  the  debate  took  an 
unexpected  turn  upon  it. 

Mr.  Seward,  of  New  York,  said  Congress  had  de- 
cided that  Kansas  should  come  in  with  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution,  without  reference  to  population ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  should  not  come  in  outside 
of  the  Lecompton  Constitution  unless  she  had  92,400 
population.  There  was,  therefore,  a  discrimination 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  against  free- 
dom, in  favor  of  slavery.  Oregon,  because  she  was 
a  Democratic  State,  was  admitted  without  reference 
to  population,  and  Kansas,  because  of  her  different 
politics,  was  excluded.  He  was  glad  of  this  occasion 
to  renew  his  vote.  He  was  glad,  also,  to  hear  that 
so  many  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  will  give  Kan- 
sas a  fair  hearing. '  It  indicates  that  the  time  is 
coming  when  any  State  applying  for  admission  will 
be  heard  on  its  merits,  apart  from  all  other  considera- 
4* 


82  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

tions.  He  thought  it  goes  to  show  that  if  Texas 
should  be  divided,  or  free  States,  as  he  thought  they 
would,  be  formed  in  Mexico,  they  will  come  in  as 
free  States. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  made  a  strong  southern 
speech. 

He  held  to  the  doctrine  of  State  rights ;  denied  the 
squatter  sovereignty  of  territories;  and  threatened 
secession,  with  banners  flying,  if  the  South  was  de- 
prived of  her  rights.  His  address  was  directed  to 
northern  Democrats.  He  placed  his  views  frankly  on 
record,  and  desired  neither  to  cheat  nor  be  cheated. 

Mr.  Douglas  felt  it  incumbent  on  him,  as  a  north- 
ern Democrat,  to  make  a  reply.  He  admired  the 
frankness,  candor,  and  directness  with  which  Mr. 
Brown  had  approached  the  question.  He  (Douglas), 
too,  would  put  his  opinions  on  record  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  will  acquit  him  of  a  desire  to  cheat  or  be 
cheated.  He  agreed  at  the  outset  with  Mr.  Brown, 
and  with  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  that 
slaves  are  property,  and  that  their  owners  have  a 
right  to  carry  them  into  the  territories  as  any  other 
property.  Having  the  right  of  transit  into  the 
territory,  the  question  arises,  how  far  does  the  power 
of  the  territorial  legislature  extend  to  slave  property  ? 
And  the  reply  is,  to  the  same  extent,  and  no  further, 
than  to  any  other  description  of  property.  Mr. 
Brown  has  said  that  slave  property  needs  more  pro- 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  83 

tection  than  any  other  description.  If  so,  it  is  the 
misfortune  of  the  owners  of  that  kind  of  property. 
Mr.  Douglas's  remarks,  from  the  frequent  interrup- 
tions, assumed  so  much  the  form  of  question  and  re- 
ply, and  running  comments  on  the  various  issues 
started,  that  we  can  only  notice  the  salient  points  of 
the  main  discussion,  which  extended  throughout  many 
hours,  he  sustaining  the  principal  part.  His  general 
scope  was,  that  he  would  leave  all  descriptions  of 
property,  slaves  included,  to  the  operation  of  the 
local  law,  and  would  not  have  Congress  interfere  in 
any  way  therewith.  If  the  people  of  the  territory 
want  slavery  there,  they  will  foster  and  encourage  it, 
and  if  they  do  not  find  it  for  their  advantage,  they 
will  do  otherwise.  So  it  becomes  a  question  of  soil, 
climate,  production,  etc.  He  illustrated  by  saying, 
that  if  any  discrimination  is  to  be  made  in  any  de- 
scription of  property,  the  owner  of  stock,  or  liquors, 
or  any  other,  might  claim  it  likewise. 

After  some  other  illustrations,  he  went  into  discus- 
sion of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  which,  he  said,  was 
passed  by  a  distinct  understanding  between  northern 
and  southern  Democrats,  however  differing  on  some 
points,  to  give  to  the  territorial  legislature  the  full 
power,  with  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  to  test  the 
constitutionality  of  any  law,  but  not  to  Congress  to 
repeal  it.  If  the  court  decides  such  law  to  be  consti- 
tutional, it  must  stand;  if  not,  it  must  fall  to  the 


84:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ground,  without  action  of  Congress.  That  doctrine 
of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  slavery  in  the 
States  and  territories,  has  been  a  fundamental  princi- 
ple of  the  Democratic  platform,  and  every  Democrat 
is  pledged  to  it  by  the  Cincinnati  platform.  Here 
Mr.  Douglas,  in  reply  to  a  question  by  Mr.  Clay 
(who  also  made  the  remark  that,  according  to  Mr. 
Douglas's  interpretation,  squatter  sovereignty  is  supe- 
rior to  the  Constitution),  said  that  the  limit  of  terri- 
torial legislation  is  the  organic  act  and  the  Constitu- 
tion. In  reply  to  Mr.  Clay's  question,  "  Can  a  slave- 
holder take  his  slave  property  into  the  territory  ?"  he 
would  reply,  Yes ;  and  hold  it  as  other  property.  To 
the  question,  "  Will  Congress  pass  a  law  to  protect 
other  kinds  of  property  in  the  territories  ?"  he  would 
answer,  No;  for  the  doctrine  that  Congress  is  to 
legislate  on  property  and  persons  without  representa- 
tion, is  the  doctrine  of  the  parliament  of  George  III., 
that  brought  on  the  Revolutionary  war.  We  said 
then  it  was  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  power  to 
assume  to  legislate  for  Englishmen  without  their  con- 
sent. Now,  was  he  (Mr.  Douglas)  to  be  called  on  to 
force  this  same  odious  doctrine  on  the  people  of  the 
territories  without  their  consent?  He  answered,  No; 
let  them  govern  themselves.  If  they  make  good 
laws,  let  them,  enjoy  the  blessings ;  if  bad,  let  them 
suffer  until  they  are  repealed.  Referring  to  the 
great  battles  fought  and  gained  in  1854  and  1856, 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  85 

he  said  he  would  like  to  know  how  many  votes  Mr. 
Buchanan  would  have  got  in  Pennsylvania  or  Ohio, 
i£  he  had  then  understood  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty  as  he  claims  to  do  now. 

Mr.  Bigler  asked  how  many  votes  Mr.  Buchanan 
would  have  received  in  1856,  had  the  senator  from 
Illinois  and  those  who  acted  with  him  told  the  people 
that  the  Kansas  act  was  not  intended  to  extend  to 
the  territories  the  sacred  right  of  self-government, 
but  simply  to  give  the  people  the  right  to  petition 
for  redress  of  grievances — a  right  not  dt^ied  to  any 
citizen,  white  or  black? 

Mr.  Douglas  said  that  there  are  no  colored  citizens, 
and  he  trusted  in  God  there  never  would  be.  He  did 
not  recognize  the  black  brothers. 

Mr.  Bigler  knew  that  as  well  as  the  senator,  and 
should  have  said  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Douglas  resumed.  In  1856,  he  took  the  same 
ground  as  now,  and  Mr.  Buchanan,  when  he  accepted 
the  nomination,  took  the  same  ground.  His  letter 
of  acceptance  to  the  Cincinnati  Convention  shows  he 
then  understood  that  the  people  of  the  territories 
should  decide  whether  slavery  should  or  should  not 
exist  within  their  limits.  When  gentlemen  called 
for  Congressional  intervention,  they  step  off  the  Demo- 
cratic platform.  He  (Mr.  Douglas)  asserted  that  the 
Democratic  creed  was  non-intervention  by  Congress, 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves. 


86  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

He  would  frankly  tell  gentlemen  of  the  South,  that 
no  Democratic  candidate  can  carry  one  State  North 
but  on  the  principles  of  the  Cincinnati  platform,  -as 
construed  by  Mr.  Buchanan  when  he  accepted  his 
nomination,  and  which  he  (Mr.  Douglas)  stood  here 
to-day  to  defend. 

Mr.  Davis  replied  to  Mr.  Douglas  elaborately, 
denying  that  he  (Douglas)  rightly  interpreted  the 
obligations  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Mr.  Pugh  said,  Mr.  Brown  had  asked  if  northern 
Democrats  tsrould  vote  for  Congressional  intervention 
to  protect  the  people  against  local  legislation.  He 
would  answer,  Never.  It  is  monstrous.  It  is  against 
the  plighted  faith  both  of  the  South  and  North.  Mr. 
Pugh  discussed  the  question  at  length,  and  said  lie 
stood  on  the  platform  of  his  party  with  the  interpre- 
tation which  he  explained.  * 

Mr.  Green  was  sorry  that  this  subject  of  conten- 
tion had  been  brought  forward.  It  was  to  try  and 
bring  discord  into  the  Democratic  party,  the  only 
party  able  to  override  the  Republican  party.  He 
hoped  and  believed  there  was  no  difference  between 
the  North  and  the  South.  A  government  is  formed 
to  protect  persons  and  property  ;  and  when  it  ceases 
to  do  either,  it  ceases  to  perform  its  one  great  func- 
tion. Mr.  Hale's  amendment  had  brought  up  the 
question,  "  What  is  property  ?"  He  (Green)  main- 
tained that,  under  the  Constitution  and  by  the  deci- 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  87 

sion  of  the  Supreme  Court,  slaves  are  property ;  and 
he  argued  the  subject  in  many  aspects,  concluding 
by -calling  on  the  Democratic  party  to  stand  united, 
and  not  permit  a  combination  to  make  use  of  a  mere 
figment  to  disorganize  them.  In  the  course  of  his 
remarks,  he  quoted  from  Mr.  Douglas's  Springfield 
speech,  to  show  that  he  had  therein  proposed  Con- 
gressional intervention  in  Utah.  He  could  not  see 
the  consistency  of  the  senator's  course,  then  and 
now. 

Mr.  Douglas  denied  that  he  had  proposed  Congres- 
sional intervention  to  regulate  the  internal  affairs  of 
Utah.  The  intervention  he  proposed  was  alone  on 
the  ground  of  rebellion — not  on  account  of  their 
domestic  affairs,  but  as  aliens  and  rebels. 

Mr.  Green,  in  speaking  of  how  territorial  legisla- 
tion could  'destroy  the  rights  of  slave  property,  said 
he  had  before  him  a  copy  of  the  bill  passed  by  the 
Kansas  Legislature  to  abolish  slavery. 

Mr.  Douglas,  remarked  that  several  speeches  had 
been  made  very  pointedly  at  him,  making  him  out 
no  better  than  an  Abolitionist,  for  leaving  the  terri- 
tories to  carry  out  their  own  affairs.  It  does  well  to 
attack  one  man  for  his  opinion ;  but  when  was  the 
most  aggravated  act  ever  committed,  that  he  did  not 
say  it  was  committed,  in"  manumitting  your  slaves 
and  confiscating  your  property?  The  gentleman 
who  spoke  thus,  says :  "  It  is  not  yet  time."  There 


OO  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

is  no  better  time  than  the  present,  to  introduce  a  bill 
to  repeal  that  act  of  the  Kansas  Legislature.  Sena- 
tors say  that  he  (Douglas)  may  go  out.  No;  he 
stands  on  the  platform,  and  it  is  for  those  who  jump 
off,  to  go  out. 

The  chair  called  the  Senate  to  order,  threatening  to 
clear  the  galleries,  unless  it  was  maintained. 

Mr.  Green  said  he  had  received  information  of  the 
bill  by  telegraph  ;  but  could  not  legislate  on  such 
information. 

Mr.  Douglas  would  take  it  for  granted  that  Mr. 
Green  meant  that  he  received  authentic  information, 
and  would  introduce  a  bill  to  repeal  the  act.  The 
South,  he  said,  had  reluctantly  acquiesced  in  the 
movement  with  the  Democrats  of  the  North  to  settle 
the  question.  He  went  at  some  length  into  a  discus- 
sion and  approval  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  case  of  Dred  Scott.  He  did  not  agree 
with  Senator  Douglas's  views  as  to  the  power  of  the 
people  of  a  territory,  and  did  not  Relieve  that  the 
Nebraska-Kansas  bill  gave  them  independent  power. 
The  senator  from  Virginia  then  gave  his  ideas  as  to 
the  people  of  the  teiritories,  and  the  people  of  the 
States.  The  right  of  property  is  recognized  in  the 
former,  but  the  inhabitants  of  a  territory  are 
unknown  to  the  Constitution.  Congress  cannot 
divest  itself  of  its  power  over  the  property  of  the 
territories,  but  it  can  grant  them  nothing.  South  of 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUOLAS.  89 

the  Potomac  River,  to  the  confines  of  Mexico,  there 
is  not  one  dissentient  voice.  The  South  would  be 
recreant  to  itself,  if  it  would  give  one  vote  for  its 
rights  to  be  taken  from  the  Constitution,  and 
remitted  to  the  pleasure  of  the  people  temporarily  in 
the  territories. 

Mr.  Davis  took  an  animated  part  in  the  debate 
against  Mr.  Douglas,  who  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
act,  had  made  a  great  error,  and  drawn  the  Senate 
into  a  great  error. 

Mr.  Douglas  resumed,  saying  it  won't  do  to  read 
him  out,  because  they  had  fallen  from  the  faith. 
There  is  no  middle  ground.  It  is  either  intervention 
or  non-intervention. 

Mr.  Gwin  said,  if  the  senator  from  Illinois  had 
given  the  same  interpretation  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
bill  when  it  was  before  the  Senate,  he  (Gwin)  would 
not  have  voted  for  it,  and  believed  those  around  him 
would  not.  When  the  senator  proposed  to  speak 
for  the  Democracy  of  the  free  States,  he  had  no 
right  to  speak  for  California,  which  thought  other- 
wise. 

Mr.  Broderick  contradicted  Mr.  Gwin's  statement 
of  the  views  of  California.  He  considered  the  views 
of  his  State  were  those  expressed  by  Mr.  Douglas. 

Mr.  Gwin  replied  that  he  was  sent  here  to  do  his 
duty  in  representing  the  Democracy  of  California, 
and  he  knew  they  indorse  the  action  of  the  Adminis- 


90  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

tration,  and  do  not  at  all  indorse  the  interpretation 
given  by  the  senator  from  Illinois. 

Mr.  Douglas  (to  Mr.  Gwin.)  I  do  say  the  records 
show  a  very  general  concurrence  in  the  views  I  then 
expressed. 

Mr.  Iverson  raised  the  question  of  order,  that  Mr. 
Douglas  had  spoken  many  times.  He  and  Mr.  Davis 
had  occupied  the  floor  four  or  five  hours.  The  point 
of  order  was  sustained. 

Mr.  Hunter  said  it  was  with  reluctance  that  he 
occupied  the  time  at  the  late  period  of  the  evening, 
but  the  turn  the  debate  had  taken  rendered  an 
explanation  necessary,  in  justice  to  himself.  He  dif- 
fered with  the  senator  from  Illinois,  both  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  and  what  was 
intended  by  it.  When  the  proposition  was  made  to 
pass  that,  he  maintained,  as  he  has  always  done  since 
he  has  had  a  place  on  that  floor,  that  the  South  had 
a  right  to  protection  for  their  slave  property  in  the 
territories. 

Mr.  Hunter  read  from  his  speech  of  that  date, 
showing  the  views  he  then  expressed.  The  case 
stood  thus:  southern  men  on  one  side  maintained 
they  had  right,  under  the  Constitution,  to  protection 
to  their  slave  property ;  northern  men  thought  the 
contrary,  and  there  was  no  chance  of  agreement 
between  them,  as  the  act  was  very  carefully  framed, 
neither  affirming  nor  disaffirming  the  power  of  the 


STEPHEN   A.  DOUGLAS.  91 

* 

the  territory  to  abolish  slavery,  but  reserving  the 
question  of  right,  and  agreeing  to  refer  to  the  judi- 
ciary any  points  arising  out  of  it.  It  was  in  itself  a 
compromise,  in  which  neither  party  conceded  their 
opinions  or  their  rights.  They  were  but  placed  in 
abeyance  until  a  case  affecting  them  might  arise. 
No  southern  man  with  whom  he  acted  ever  consi- 
dered he  was  conferring  on  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture the  absolute  right  to  deal  with  this  subject. 
They  agreed  to  this  settlement  as  a  consequence, 
acting  together  upon  points  wherein  they  agreed, 
and  expressing  no  opinion  upon  points  where  the  dif- 
ferences were  irreconcilable.  By  this  they  secured 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  upon  which 
the  Democrats  were  agreed,  by  confining  the  act  to 
the  general  purpose  to  be  accomplished.  Justice  to 
himself  and  the  distinguished  senator  from  South 
Carolina,  now  no  more,  with  whom  he  had  acted  and 
consulted  on  the  matter,  required  the  explanation. 
Mr.  Hunter  then  drew  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to 
the  time  consumed  in  the  debate,'  and  urged  a  vote 
upon  the  amendment. 

Mr.  Stuart,  after  some  general  remarks  on  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion,  asked,  why  should  the  Demo- 
cratic party  be  racked  and  torn  by  the  thought  of  the 
contingences  which  may  not  happen  ?  If  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  a  body,  if  its  able  and  efficient  mem- 
bers throughout  the  country,  stand  faithfully  toge- 


92  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ther,  their  flag  will  remain  in  the  ascendant,  and  the 
party  will  rise  out  of  all  the  difficulties  which  now 
beset  it. 

Mr.  Bigler  was  opposed  to  Congress  extending 
slavery  in  the  territories,  and  against  Congressional 
intervention  with  slavery,  and  would  stand  by  the 
Baltimore  and  Cincinnati  platforms  of  the  Democra- 
tic party.  He  believed  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  were  in  the  hope  of  the  Democracy. 

Mr.  Douglas  is  a  powerful  debater,  quick,  ready  at 
repartee,  strong  in  his  logic,  and  possessing  that  ani- 
mal courage  which  is  so  necessary  to  the  successful 
debater.  Few  men  equal  him  in  senatorial  debate 
for  rough  power.  There  are  many  who  surpass  him 
in  silvery  eloquence,  who  excel  him  in  winning, 
courteous  debate,  but  no  one  in  the  present  Senate 
who  has  quite  his  force  and  overwhelming  courage. 
In  the  debate  which  we  have  abbreviated,  Mr. 
Douglas  was  for  hours — from  noon  till  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening — obliged  to  defend  himself  against  a 
half-dozen  able  and  eloquent  senators.  His  manner, 
his  voice,  were  at  times  like  that  of  a  wounded  lion — 
deep,  strong  and  melancholy ;  but  he  fought  to  the 
last  without  a  moment's  thought  of  quailing. 

Mr.  Douglas  has  no  sympathy  with  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  free  States,  but  plants  himself  upon 
his  principle,  and  puts  slavery  and  freedom  upon  the 
same  footing.  If  the  people  want  slavery,  let  them 


STEPHEN    A.  DOUGLAS.  93 

have  it.  If  they  want  freedom — no  interference  in 
favor  of  slavery.  This  we  understand  to  be  his  posi- 
tion, though  some  of  his  southern  friends  claim  that 
he  admits  that  the  Supreme  Court  is  bound  to  give 
slavery  an  existence  in  all  the  territories.  In  his  New 
Orleans  speech  of  last  winter,  Mr.  Douglas  is  reported 
to  have  said : 

"  Whenever  a  territory  has  a  climate,  soil  and  production, 
making  it  the  interest  of  the  inhabitants  to  encourage  slave 
property,  they  will  pass  a  slave  code,  and  give  it  encourage- 
ment. Whenever  the  climate,  soil  and  production  preclude 
the  possibility  of  slavery  being  profitable,  they  will  not  per- 
mit it.  You  come  right  back  to  the  principle  of  dollars  and 
cents.  I  do  not  care  where  the  migration  in  the  southern 
country  comes  from  ;  if  old  Joshua  R.  Giddings  should  raise 
a  colony  in  Ohio,  and  settle  down  in  Louisiana,  he  would  be 
the  strongest  advocate  for  slavery  in  the  whole  South  ;  he 
would  find,  when  he  got  there,  his  opinion  would  be  very 
much  modified  ;  he  would  find  on  those  sugar  plantations 
that  it  was  not  a  question  between  the  white  man  and  the 
negro,  but  between  the  negro  and  the  crocodile. 

"  He  would  say  that,  between  the  negro  and  the  crocodile, 
he  took  the  side  of  the  negro.  But,  between  the  negro  and 
the  white  man,  he  would  go  for  the  white  man.  The  Al- 
mighty has  drawn  the  line  on  this  continent,  on  one  side  of 
which  the  soil  must  be  cultivated  by  slave  labor ;  on  the 
other,  by  white  labor.  That  line  did  not  run  on  thirty-six 
degrees  and  thirty  minutes,  for  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty 
minutes  runs  over  mountains  and  through  valleys.  But  this 
slave  line  meanders  in  the  sugar-fields  and  plantations  of  the 
South — [the  remainder  of  the  sentence  was  lost  by  the  con- 
fusion around  the  reporter.]  And  the  people  living  in  their 


94  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

different  localities  and  in  the  territories  must  determine  for 
themselves  whether  their  '  middle  bed '  is  best  adapted  to 
slavery  or  free  labor. 

"  Hence,  under  the  Constitution,  there  is  no  power  to  pre- 
vent a  southern  man  going  there  with  his  slaves,  more  than 
a  northern  man." 

Mr.  Douglas  is  a  man  of  very  short  stature,  but  of 
large  body,  and  a  frame  and  constitution  capable  of 
great  endurance.  He  lives  in  Washington  half  the 
year,  where  he  has  a  handsome  residence,  and  the 
other  half  in  Illinois  among  his  constituents,  where 
he  has  a  country  mansion.  The  mother  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  who  was  so  faithful  to  him  and  whom  he 
has  never  ceased  to  love  and  reverence,  still  lives, 
and  has  witnessed  his  rise  from  the  cabinet-maker's 
shop  to  the  senatorial  chair. 


SALMON  P.  CHASE. 

SALMON  POKLAND  CHASE  was  born  in  Cornish, 
New  Hampshire,  Jan.  13th,  1808.  He  was  seven 
years  old  when  his  father  removed  to  the  town  of 
Keene,  where  he  attended  the  village  school.  In  18 IT 
his  father  died,  and  two  years  later  the  boy,  then  only 
twelve  years  old,  went  to  "Worthington,  Ohio.  His 
uncle,  Philander  Chase,  was  then  Bishop  of  Ohio, 
and  he  superintended  the  education  of  his  nephew. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  entered  Cincinnati  College,  of 
which  institution  his  uncle  became  president.  He 
soon  was  promoted  to  the  sophomore  class.  After  a 
year's  residence  in  Cincinnati,  he  returned  to  New 
Hampshire  and  his  mother's  house ;  and,  in  1824,  en- 
tered the  junior  class  of  Dartmouth  College.  He 
graduated  in  1826.  The  following  winter  Mr.  Chase 
went  to  the  city  of  "Washington,  and  opened  a  classi- 
cal school  for  boys.  Among  his  pupils  were  the  sons 
of  Henry  Clay,  William  Niel,  and  other  distinguished 
men.  Many  of  the  citizens  of  Washington  at  this 
day  well  remember  Mr.  Chase's  efforts  as  a  teacher 
among  them,  and  at  that  time  learned  to  esteem  and 
respect  the  man  who  has  since  risen  to  so  high  a 

95 


96  PEESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

position  as  a  politician  and  statesman.  He  closed  his 
school  in  1829,  and  soon  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  hav- 
ing studied  law  under  Mr.  Niel  while  teaching  his 
school,  manifesting  by  his  industry  and  courage  that 
he  was  possessed  of  the  qualities  which  must  cer- 
tainly in  the  end  bring  him  position  and  reputation. 

In  1830,  Mr.  Chase  left  Washington  for  Cincin- 
nati, where  he  has  always  since  resided,  save  when 
serving  his  State  in  an  official  capacity,  and  pursued 
his  profession.  He  was  poor,  unknown,  and  before 
he  could  hope  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public, 
must  earn  his  bread  and  endure  months,  if  not  years, 
of  serious  toil  and  drudgery.  During  these  early 
years  in  his  professional  career,  he  prepared  an  edi- 
tion of  Statutes  of  Ohio,  and  a  preliminary  sketch 
of  the  history  the  State.  The  work  made  three  large 
volumes,  and  at  once  became  an  authority  in  the 
courts.  The  authorship  of  this  volume  was  a  happy 
idea,  for  it  not  only  brought  him  a  moderate  pecuni- 
ary reward  directly,  but  it  also  gave  him  the  ear 
of  the  people,  and  practice  at  once  flowed  in  upon 
him. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Chase  became  solicitor  of  the  F>ank 
of  the  United  States  in  Cincinnati,  and  other  corpo- 
rations. In  1837,  he  first  gave  public  utterance  to 
his  views  upon  the  slavery  question  in  its  legal 
aspects.  The  article  in  Appleton's  Encylopredia 
upon  Mr.  Chase,  which  on  many  points  is  our 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  97 

authority  in  this  sketch,  gives  the  subjoined  history 
of  Mr.  Chase's  early  legal  arguments  in  reference  to 
slavery: 

"  In  1837,  Mr.  Chase  acted  as  counsel  for  a  colored 
woman  claimed  as  a  fugitive  slave  and  in  an  elabo- 
rate argument,  afterward  published,  controverted 
the  authority  of  Congress  to  impose  any  duties  or 
confer  any  powers  in  fugitive  slave  cases  on  state 
magistrates,  a  position  in  which  he  has  since  been 
sustained  by  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court ;  and  main- 
tained that  the  law  of  1T93,  relative  to  fugitives  from 
service,  was  void,  because  unwarranted  by  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  The  same  year, 
in  an  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio, 
in  defence  of  James  Gr.  Birney,  prosecuted  under  a 
State  law  for  harboring  a  negro  slave,  Mr.  Chase 
asserted  the  doctrine  that  slavery  is  local,  and  inde- 
pendent on  state  law  for  existence  and  continuance, 
and  insisted  that  the  person  alleged  to  have  been, 
harbored,  having  been  brought  within  the  territorial 
limits  of  Ohio  by  the  individual  claiming  her  as  mas- 
ter, was  thenceforth,  in  fact  and  by  right,  free.  In 
1838,  in  a  newspaper  review  of  a  report  of  the  judi- 
ciary committee  of  the  senate  of  Ohio  against  the 
granting  of  trial  by  jury  to  alleged  slaves,  Mr.  Chase 
took  the  same  ground  as  in  his  legal  arguments.  In 
1846,  he  was  associated  with  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward 
as  defendant's  counsel  in  the  case  of  Yan  Zandt,  before 


98  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The  case 
excited  much  interest,  and  in  a  speech  which  at- 
tracted marked  attention,  Mr.  Chase  argued  more 
elaborately  the  principles  which  he  advanced  in  for- 
mer cases,  maintaining  that  under  the  ordinance  of 
1787  no  fugitives  from  service  could  be  reclaimed  from 
Ohio,  unless  there  had  been  an  escape  from  one  of 
the  original  States ;  that  it  was  the  clear  understand- 
ing of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  and  of  the 
people  who  adopted  it,  that  slavery  was  to  be  left 
exclusively  to  the  disposal  of  the  several  States,  with- 
out sanction  or  support  from  the  National  Govern- 
ment ;  and  that  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  rela- 
tive to  persons  held  to  service  was  one  of  compact 
between  the  States,  and  conferred  no  power  of  legis- 
lation on  Congress,  having  been  transferred  from  the 
ordinance  of  1787,  in  which  it  conferred  no  power  on 
the  Confederation,  and  was  never  understood  to  con- 
fer any.  He  was  subsequently  engaged  for  the  de- 
fence in  the  case  of  Driskell  vs.  Parish,  before  the 
TJ.  S.  Circuit  Court  at  Columbus,  and  re-argued  the 
same  positions." 

Mr.  Chase's  political  history  is  thus  summed  up 
in  the  same  article : 

"  Mr.  Chase's  sentiments  of  hostility  to  the  nation- 
alization of  slavery  were  expressed  by  his  position  in 
the  political  movements  of  the  country,  as  well  as  his 
efforts  at  the  bar.  Prior  to  1841  he  had  taken  little 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  99 

part  in  politics.  He  had  voted  sometimes  with  the 
Democrats,  but  more  commonly  with  the  Whigs, 
who,  in  the  North,  seemed  to  him  more  favorable  to 
anti-slavery  views  than  their  opponents.  He  sup- 
ported Gen.  Harrison  in  1840,  but  the  tone  of  his 
inaugural  address,  and  still  more  the  course  of  the 
Tyler  administration,  convinced  him  that  no  effec- 
tive resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  slavery  was 
to  be  expected  from  any  party  with  a  slaveholding 
and  pro-slavery  wing,  modifying  if  not  controlling 
its  action ;  and  in  1841  he  united  in  a  call  for  a  con- 
vention of  the  opponents  of  slavery  and  slavery 
extension,  which  assembled  in  Columbus  in  Decem- 
ber of  that  year.  This  convention  organized  the 
liberty  party  of  Ohio,  nominated  a  candidate  for 
governor,  and  issued  an  address  to  the  people  defin- 
ing its  principles  and  purposes. — This  address,  writ- 
ten and  reported  by  Mr.  Chase,  and  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  convention,  deserves  attention  as 
one  of  the  earliest  expositions  of  the  political 
movements  against  slavery.  In  1843,  a  nation- 
al liberty  convention  assembled  at  Buffalo.  Mr. 
Chase  was  an  active  member  of  the  committee  on 
resolutions,  to  which  was  referred,  under,  a  rule 
of  the  convention,  a  resolution  proposing  '  to  regard 
and  treat  the  third  clause  of  the  Constitution,  when- 
ever applied  to  the  case  of  a  fugitive  slave,  as  utterly 
null  and  void,  and  consequently  as  forming  no  part 


100  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  whenever 
we  are  called  upon  or  sworn  to  support  it.'  Mr. 
Chase  opposed  the  resolution,  and  the  committee 
refused  to  report  it.  It  was,  however,  afterward 
moved  in  the  convention  by  its  author,  and  adopted. 
Having  been  charged  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  with  the 
authorship  and  advocacy  of  this  resolution,  by  Mr. 
Butler  of  South  Carolina,  who  denounced  the  doc- 
trine of  mental  reservation  apparently  sanctioned  by 
it,  Mr.  Chase  replied :  *  I  have  only  to  say  I  never 
proposed  the  resolution;  I  never  would  propose  or 
vote  for  such  a  resolution.  I  hold  no  doctrine  of 
mental  reservation.  Every  man,  in  my  judgment, 
should  speak  just  as  he  thinks,  keeping  nothing  back, 
here  or  elsewhere.'  In  1843  it  became  Mr.  Chase's 
duty  to  prepare  an  address  on  behalf  of  the  friends 
of  liberty,  Ireland,  and  repeal  in  Cincinnati,  to  the 
loyal  national  repeal  association  in  Ireland,  in  reply 
to  a  letter  from  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  In  this  address  Mr.  Chase  reviewed  the  relations 
of  the  federal  government  to  slavery  at  the  period 
of  its  organization,  set  forth  its  original  anti-slavery 
policy,  and  the  subsequent  growth  of  the  political 
power  of  slavery,  vindicated  the  action  of  the  liberal 
party,  and  repelled  the  aspersions  cast  by  a  repeal 
association  in  Cincinnati  upon  anti-slavery  men. 
In  1845  Mr.  Chase  projected  a  southern  and  western 
liberty  convention,  designed  to  embrace  'all  who, 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  101 

believing  that  whatever  is  worth  preserving  in 
republicanism  can  be  maintained  only  by  uncompro- 
mising war  against  the  usurpations  of  the  slave 
power,  and  are  therefore  resolved  to  use  -all  constitu- 
tional and  honorable  means  to  effect  the  extinc- 
tion of  slavery  in  "their  respective  States,  and  its 
reduction  to  its  constitutional  limits  in  the  United 
States.'  The  convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati  in 
June,  1845,  and  was  attended  by  4,000  persons ;  dele- 
gates were  present  to  the  number  of  2,000.  Mr. 
Chase,  as  chairman  of  the  committee,  prepared  the 
address,  giving  a  history  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States,  showing  the  position  of  the  Whig  and  Demo- 
cratic parties,  and  arguing  the  necessity  of  a  polit- 
ical organization  unequivocally  committed  to  the 
denationalization  of  slavery  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
slave  power,  and  exhibiting  what  he  regarded  as  the 
necessary  hostility  of  the  slaveholding  interest  to 
democracy  and  all  liberal  measures.  This  address 
was  widely  circulated. 

*  In  1847,  Mr.  Chase  was  a  member  of  the  Second 
National  Liberty  Convention,  and  opposed  the  mak- 
ing of  any  national  nomination  at  that  time,  urging 
that  a  more  general  movement  against  slavery  exten- 
sion and  denomination,  was  likely  to  grow  out  of  the 
agitation  of  the  "Wilrnot  Proviso,  and  the  action  of 
Congress  and  political  parties  in  reference  to  slavery. 
In  1848,  anticipating  that  the  conventions  of  the 


102  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES, 

"Whig  and  Democratic  parties  would  probably  refuse 
to  take  grounds  against  the  extensions  of  slavery,  he 
prepared  a  call  for  a  free  territory  state  convention 
at  Columbus,  which  was  signed  by  more  than  3,000 
voters  of  all  political  parties.  The  convention  thus 
called  was  largely  attended,  and  invited  a  national 
convention  to  meet  at  Buffalo  in  August.  The  influ- 
ence of  Mr.  Chase  was  conspicuous  in  the  state  con- 
vention, and  no  less  so  in  the  national  convention, 
which  assembled  upon  its  invitation,  and  nominated 
Mr.  Van  Buren  for  President.  An  immense  mass 
meeting  was  held  at  Buffalo  at  the  same  time.  Mr. 
Chase  was  president  of  the  national  convention,  and 
also  a  member  of  its  committee  on  resolutions.  The 
platform  was  substantially  his  work.  On  February 
22d,  1849,  Mr.  Chase  was  chosen  a  senator  of  the 
United  States  from  Ohio,  receiving  the  entire  vote 
of  the  Democratic  members  of  the  Legislature,  and 
of  those  freesoil  members  who  favored  Democratic 
views.  The  Democratic  party  of  Ohio,  by  the  reso- 
tions  of  its  state  convention,  had  already  declared 
slavery  an  evil ;  and  practically,  through  its  press 
and  the  declarations  of  its  leading  men,  had  commit- 
ted itself  to  the  denationalization  of  slavery.  Mr. 
Chase,  therefore,  coinciding  with  the  Democrats  in 
their  general  views  of  the  state  policy,  supported 
their  state  nominees,  distinctly  announcing  his  inten- 
tion, in  the  event  of  the  party's  desertion  of  its  anti- 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  103 

slavery  position,  in  state  or  national  conventions,  to 
end  at  once  his  connection  with  it.  When  the  nomi- 
nation of  Mr.  Pierce  by  the  Baltimore  convention  of 
1852,  with  a  platform  approving  the  compromise  acts 
of  1850,  and  denouncing  the  further  discussion  of  the 
slavery  question,  was  sanctioned  by  the  Democratic 
party  in  Ohio,  Mr.  Chase,  true  to  his  word,  withdrew 
from  it,  and  addressed  to  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Butler,  of  New 
York,  his  associate  in  the  Buffalo  convention,-  a  letter 
in  vindication  of  an  independent  Democratic,  party. 
He  prepared  a  platform,  which  was  substantially 
adopted  by  the  convention  of  the  independent  Demo- 
cracy at  Pittsburg  in  1852.  Having  thus  gone  into 
a  minority  rather  than  compromise  his  principles, 
Mr.  Chase  gave  a  cordial  and  energetic  support  to 
the  nominees  and  measures  of  the  independent  Demo- 
cracy, until  the  Nebraska  bill  gave  rise  to  a  new  and 
powerful  party,  based  substantially  upon  the  ideas 
he  had  so  long  maintained.  As  a  senator  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Chase  delivered  on  March  26  and 
27,  1850,  a  speech  against  Mr.  Clay's  compromise 
bill,  reviewing  thoroughly  all  the  questions  presented 
in  it.  He  moved  an  amendment  providing  against 
the  introduction  of  slavery  in  the  territories  to  which 
the  bill  applied,  but  it  failed  by  a  vote  of  25  to  30. 
He  proposed  also,  though  without  success,  an  amend- 
ment to  the  fugitive  slave  bill,  securing  trial  by  jury 
to  alleged  slaves,  and  another  conforming  its  provi- 


104  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

sions  to  the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  by  excluding 
from  its  operation  persons  escaping  from  State  or  ter- 
ritories, and  vice  versa.  In  1854,  when  the  bill  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  commonly 
called  the  Nebraska  Kansas  bill,  was  introduced,  he 
drafted  an  appeal  to  the  people  against  the  measure, 
which  was  signed  by  the  senators  and  representa- 
tives in  Congress,  concurring  in  his  political  opin- 
ions; and  in  a  speech  on  February  3,. attempted  the 
first  elaborate  exposure  of  the  features  of  that  bill,  as 
viewed  by  its  opponents.  In  the  general  opposition 
to  the  Nebraska  bill  he  took  a  leading  part,  and  the 
rejection  of  three  of  his  proposed  amendments,  was 
thought  to  be  of  such  significance  as  bearing  on  the 
slavery  question,  that  it  may  be  well  to  state  them. 
The  first  proposed  to  add  after  the  words,  '  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,'  in  sec- 
tion 14,  the  following  clause:  'Under  which  the 
people  of  the  territory,  through  their  appropriate  re- 
presentatives, may,  if  they  see  fit,  prohibit  the  exist- 
ence of  slavery  therein.'  This  was  rejected,  yeas  10, 
nays  36.  The  second  proposed  to  give  practical 
effect  to  the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty  by  pro- 
viding for  the  election  by  the  people  of  the  territory 
of  their  own  governor,  judges,  and  secretary,  instead 
of  leaving,  as  in  the  bill,  their  appointment  to  the 
Federal  Executive.  This  was  defeated,  yeas  10,  nays 
30.  He  then  proposed  an  amendment  of  the  bound- 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  105 

ary,  so  as  to  have  but  one  territory,  named  Nebraska, 
instead  of  two  entitled  respectively  Nebraska  and 
Kansas.  This  was  rejected,  yeas  8,  nays  34.  His 
opposition  to  the  bill  was  ended  by  a  final  and  ear- 
nest protest  against  it  on  the  night  of  its  passage. 
While  thus  vigilant  in  maintaining  his  principles  on 
the  slavery  question,  Mr.  Chase  was  constant  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  general  duties  of  his  position.  To  divorce 
the  Federal  Government  from  all  connection  with  sla- 
very; to  confine  its  action  strictly  within  Constitu- 
tional limits ;  to  uphold  the  rights  of  individuals  and 
of  States;  to  foster  with  equal  care  all  the  great  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  and  to  secure  an  economical  ad- 
ministration of  the  national  finances,  were  the  gene- 
ral aims,  which  he  endeavored,  both  by  his  votes 
and  his  speeches,  to  promote.  On  the  interests  of  the 
"West,  he  always  kept  a  watchful  eye,  claiming  that 
the  Federal  treasury  should  defray  the  expenses  of 
providing  for  the  safety  of  navigation  on  our  great 
inland  seas,  as  well  as  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coasts,  and  advocating  liberal  aid  by  the  Federal 
Government  to  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  by  the  best,  shortest,  and  cheapest  route. 

"  He  was  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  policy  of  the 
free  homestead  movement,  in  behalf  of  which  he 
expressed  his  views  during  the  first  session  of  his 
term,  on  presenting  a  petition  for  granting  the  public 
lands,  in  limited  quantities,  to  actual  settlers  not  pos- 

6* 


106  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

sessed  of  other  land.  He  was  also  an  early  advocate 
of  cheap  postage  and  an  unwearied  opponent  of 
extravagant  appropriations.  In  July,  1855,  Mr.  Chase 
was  nominated  by  the  opponents  of  the  Nebraska  bill 
and  the  Pierce  administration  for  governor  of  Ohio, 
and  was  elected.  His  inaugural  address,  delivered 
in  1856,  recommended  economy  in  the  administration 
of  public  aifairs,  single  districts  for  legislative  repre- 
sentation, annual  instead  of  biennial  sessions  of  the 
legislature,  and  ample  provision  for  the  educational 
interests  of  the  State.  His  state  policy  and  senatorial 
course  were  now  so  much  approved  that  at  the  na- 
tional convention  of  the  Republican  party,  held  the 
same  year,  a  majority  of  the  Ohio  delegation  and 
many  delegates  from  other  States,  desired  his  nomi- 
nation for  the  presidency ;  but  his  name  was,  at  his 
request,  withdrawn.  His  first  annual  message  to  the 
Ohio  legislature,  in  1857,  after  reviewing  the  mate- 
rial resources,  and  the  financial  and  educational  con- 
dition of  the  State,  together  with  its  federal  relations, 
recommended  a  bureau  of  statistics,  wThich  was 
accordingly  established. 

"During  the  same  year,  a  deficit  of  over  $500,000 
being  discovered  in  the  State  treasury,  a  few  days 
before  the  semi-annual  interest  of  the  State  debt 
became  due,  the  decided  ^action  of  Gov.  Chase  com- 
pelled the  resignation  of  the  State  treasurer,  who 
had  concealed  its  existence,  secured  a  thorough  inves- 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  107 

tigation,  and,  through  a  prompt  and  judicious 
arrangement,  protected  the  credit  of  the  State  and 
averted  a  large  pecuniary  loss.  At  the  close  of  his 
first  term,  Gov.  Chase  desired  to  retire  from  office, 
but  the  Republicans  insisted  on  his  renomination, 
which  was  made  by  acclamation.  After  an  active 
canvass,  the  continued  confidence  of  the  people  in  his 
administration  was  manifested  by  his  reelection  by 
the  largest  vote  ever  given  for  a  governor  in  Ohio. 
In  his  annual  message,  in  1858,  after  submitting  an 
elaborate  exposition  of  the  financial  condition  and 
resources  of  Ohio,  he  recommended  semi-annual  taxa- 
tion, more  stringent  provisions  for  the  security  of  the 
treasury,  and  a  special  attention  to  the  State  bene- 
volent institutions,  including  the  reform  school,  in 
which  he  had  always  manifested  a  deep  interest. 
These  suggestions  met  the  approbation  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  laws  were  passed  accordingly." 

The  sketch  we  have  quoted,  gives  an  exact  and  im- 
partial, though  brief,  history  of  the  political  acts  of 
Mr.  Chase,  but  it  is  bloodless,  without  enthusiasm, 
and  to  the  friends  of  the  distinguished  subject  of  the 
sketch,  will  seem  cold,  giving  no  adequate  idea  of  the 
ability  and  greatness  of  the  man  ;  but  the  sketch  is 
perfectly  impartial,  and  accurate  in  every  particular. 

Mr.  Chase,  while  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
bore  a  very  high  reputation  as  a  debater  and  as  an 
orator.  He  never  descended  to  notice  personal 


108  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

s. 

attacks  unless  his  political  history  was  called  in  ques- 
tion, and  remained  cool  and  unruffled  through  scenes 
of  great  excitement  and  under  a  storm  of  personali- 
ties. His  manner  is  dignified  and  his  eloquence 
massive.  Few  men  can  deliver  a  speech,  which  for 
force,  solid  arguments,  and  high-toned  eloquence,  will 
equal  the  best  of  his.  He  is  not  an  impetuous  ora- 
tor, or  man,  but  is  always  collected,  calm,  and  self- 
poised.  Nevertheless,  he  has  warm  and  enthusiastic 
friends,  and  those  who  know  him  best  esteem  him 
most. 

In  his  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Chase  is  somewhat 
imposing,  for  he  is  tall,  of  large  proportions,  with  a 
large  head  and  face,  a  fine  port,  dignified  bearing, 
and  an  eye  of  quick  intelligence.  Through  his  entire 
career,  whether  at  the  bar,  in  Congress,  or  in  the  gub- 
ernatorial chair,  Mr.  Chase  has  never  for  an  instant 
compromised  the  integrity  or  dignity  of  his  character. 

One  of  the  finest  of  his  senatorial  speeches  was 
made  Feb.  3,  1854,  in  reply  to  a  severe  attack  of  Mr. 
Douglas  upon  himself  and  two  or  three  other  gentle- 
men, who  had  issued  an  address  to  the  people  upon 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  act.  We  can  only  quote  the 
closing  portions  of  this  great  speech : 

"  Mr.  President,  three  great  eras  have  marked  the  history 
of  this  country,  in  respect  of  slavery.  The  first  may  be  char- 
acterized as  the  era  of  enfranchisement.  It  commenced  with 
the  earliest  struggle  for  national  independence.  The  spirit 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  109 

which  inspired  it  animated  the  hearts  and  prompted  the 
efforts  \>f  Washington,  of  Jefferson,  of  Patrick  Henry,  of 
Wythe,  of  Adams,  of  Jay,  of  Hamilton,  of  Morris — in  short, 
of  all  the  great  men  of  our  early  history.  All  these  hoped, 
all  these  labored  for,  all  these  believed  in  the  final  deliverance 
of  the  country  from  the  curse  of  slavery.  That  spirit  burned 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  inspired  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Constitution,  and  of  the  Ordinance  of  1781. 
Under  its  influence,  when  in  full  vigor,  State  after  State  pro- 
vided for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  within  their  limits, 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  Under  its  feebler 
influence  at  a  later  perior,  and  during  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  the  importation  of  slaves  was  prohibited  into 
Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  in  the  faint  hope  that  these  terri- 
tories might  finally  become  free  States.  Gradually  that 
spirit  ceased  to  influence  our  public  councils,  and  lost  its  con- 
trol over  the  American  heart  and  the  American  policy. 
Another  era  succeeded,  but  by  such  imperceptible  gradations 
that  the  lines  which  separate  the  two  cannot  be  traced  with 
absolute  precision.  The  facts  of  the  two  eras  meet  and  mingle 
as  the  currents  of  confluent  streams  mix  so  imperceptibly  that 
the  observer  cannot  fix  the  spot  where  the  meeting  waters 
blend. 

"  This  second  era  was  the  era  of  Conservatism.  Its  great 
maxim  was  to  preserve  the  existing  condition.  Men  said,  let 
things  remain  as  they  are  ;  let  slavery  stay  where  it  is  ;  ex- 
clude it  where  it  is  not ;  refrain  from  disturbing  the  public 
quiet  by  agitation  ;  adjust  all  differences  that  arise,  not  by  the 
application  of  principles,  but  by  compromises. 

"  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  senator  tells  us  that 
slavery  was  maintained  in  Illinois,  both  while  a  territory  and 
after  it  became  a  State,  in  despite  of  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance.  It  is  true,  sir,  that  the  slaves  held  in  the  Illinois 
country,  under  the  French  law,  were  not  regarded  as  abso- 
lutely emancipated  by  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance.  But 


110  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

full  effect  was  given  to  the  ordinance  in  excluding  the  intro- 
duction of  slaves,  and  thus  the  territory  was  preserved  from 
eventually  becoming  a  slave  State.  The  few  slaveholders  in 
the  territory  of  Indiana,  which  then  included  Illinois,  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  such  an  ascendency  in  its  affairs,  that 
repeated  applications  were  made,  not  merely  by  conventions 
of  delegates,  but  by  the  Territorial  Legislature  itself,  for  a 
suspension  of  a  clause  in  the  ordinance  prohibiting  slavery. 
These  applications  were  reported  upon  by  John  Randolph,  of 
Virginia,  in  the  House,  and  by  Mr.  Franklin,  in  the  Senate. 
Both  the  reports  were  against  suspension.  The  grounds 
stated  by  Randolph  are  specially  worthy  of  being  considered 
now.  They  are  thus  stated  in  the  report : 

" '  That  the  committee  deem  it  highly  dangerous  and  inex- 
pedient to  impair  a  provision  wisely  calculated  to  promote  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  northwestern  country,  and  to 
give  strength  and  security  to  that  extensive  frontier.  In  the 
salutary  operation  of  this  sagacious  and  benevolent  restraint, 
it  is  believed  that  the  inhabitants  of  Indiana  will,  at  no  very 
distant  day,  find  ample  remuneration  for  a  temporary  privation 
of  labor  and  of  emigration.' 

"  Sir,  these  reports,  made  in  1803  and  1807,  and  the  action 
of  Congress  upon  them,  in  conformity  with  their  recommen- 
dation, saved  Illinois,  and  perhaps  Indiana,  from  becoming 
slave  States.  When  the  people  of  Illinois  formed  their  State 
constitution,  they  incorporated  into  it  a  section  providing  that 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  be  hereafter 
introduced  into  this  State.  The  constitution  made  provision 
for  the  continued  service  of  the  few  persons  who  were  origin- 
ally held  as  slaves,  and  then  bound  to  service  under  the  Ter- 
ritorial laws,  and  for  the  freedom  of  their  children,  and  thus 
secured  the  final  extinction  of  slavery.  The  senator  thinks 
that  this  result  is  not  attributable  to  the  ordinance.  I  differ 
from  him.  But  for  the  ordinance  I  have  no  doubt  slavery 
would  have  been  introduced  into  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Ohio. 


SALMON    P.  CHASE.  Ill 

It  is  something  to  the  credit  of  the  era  of  conservatism,  unit- 
ing its  influences  with  those  of  the  expiring  era  of  enfranchise- 
ment, that  it  maintained  the  Ordinance  of  1787  in  the  north- 
west. 

"  The  era  of  conservatism  passed,  also,  by  imperceptible 
gradations,  into  the  era  of  slavery  propagandisrn.  Under  the 
influences  of  this  new  spirit,  we  opened  the  whole  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  except  California,  to  the  ingress  of 
slavery.  Every  foot  of  it  was  covered  by  a  Mexican  prohi- 
bition ;  and  yet,  by  the  legislation  of  1850,  we  consented  to 
expose  it  to  the  introduction  of  slaves.  Some,  I  believe,  have 
actually  been  carried  into  Utah  and  into  New  Mexico.  They 
may  be  few,  perhaps,  but  a  few  are  enough  to  affect  mate- 
rially the  probable  character  of  their  future  governments. 

"  Sir,  I  believe  we  are  on  the  verge  of  another  era.  The 
introduction  of  this  question  here,  and  its  discussion,  will 
greatly  hasten  its  advent.  That  era  will  be  the  era  of  reac- 
tion. We,  who  insist  upon  the  denationalization  of  slavery, 
and  upon  the  absolute  divorce  of  the  General  Government 
from  all  connection  with  it,  will  stand  with  the  men  who 
favored  the  compromise  acts,  and  who  yet  wish  to  adhere  to 
them,  in  their  letter  and  in  their  spirit,  against  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  prohibition.  You  may  pass  it  here,  you  may 
send  it  to  the  other  House,  it  may  become  law  ;  but  its  effect 
will  be  to  satisfy  all  thinking  men  that  no  compromise  with 
slavery  will  endure,  except  so  long  as  they  serve  the  interests 
of  slavery  ;  and  that  there  is  no  safe  and  honorable  ground  to 
stand  upon,  except  that  of  restricting  slavery  within  State 
limits,  and  excluding  it  absolutely  from  the  whole  sphere  of 
federal  jurisdiction.  The  old  questions  between  political  par- 
ties are  at  rest.  No  great  question  so  thoroughly  possesses 
the  public  mind  as  this  of  slavery.  This  discussion  will  hasten 
the  inevitable  reorganization  of  parties  upon  the  new  issues 
which  our  circumstances  suggest.  It  will  light  up  a  fire  in 
the  country  which  may,  perhaps,  consume  those  who  kindle  it. 


112  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  I  cannot  believe  that  the  people  of  this  country  have  so 
far  lost  sight  of  the  maxims  and  principles  of  the  Revolution, 
or  are  so  insensible  to  the  obligations  which  those  maxims 
and  principles  impose,  as  to  acquiesce  in  the  violation  of  this 
compact.  Sir,  the  Senator  from  Illinois  tells  us  that  he  pro- 
poses a  final  settlement  of  all  territorial  questions  hi  respect 
to  slavery,  by  the  application  of  the  principle  of  popular 
sovereignty.  What  kind  of  popular  sovereignty  is  that  which 
allows  one  portion  of  the  people  to  enslave  another  portion  ? 
Is  that  the  doctrine  of  equal  rights  ?  Is  that  exact  justice  ? 
Is  that  the  teaching  of  enlightened,  liberal,  progressive  De- 
mocracy ?  No,  sir  ;  no  !  There  can  be  no  real  Democracy 
which  does  not  fully  maintain  the  rights  of  man,  as  man. 
Living,  practical,  earnest  Democracy. imperatively  requires  us, 
while  carefully  abstaining  from  unconstitutional  interference 
with  the  internal  regulations  of  any  State  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  or  any  other  subject,  to  insist  upon  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  its  great  principles  in  all  the  legislation  of  Congress. 

"  I  repeat,  sir,  that  we  who  maintain  these  principles  will 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men  who,  differing  from 
us  upon  other  questions,  will  yet  unite  with  us  hi  opposition 
to  the  violation  of  plighted  faith  contemplated  by  this  bill. 
There  are  men,  and  not  a  few,  who  are  willing  to  adhere  to 
the  compromise  of  1850.  If  the  Missouri  prohibition,  which 
that  compromise  incorporates  and  preserves  among  its  own 
provisions,  shall  be  repealed,  abrogated,  broken  up,  thousands 
will  say  :  Away  with  all  compromises  ;  they  are  not  worth 
the  paper  on  which  they  are  printed  ;  we  will  return  to  the 
old  principles  of  the  Constitution.  We  will  assert  the  ancient 
doctrine,  that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or 
property,  by  the  legislation  of  Congress,  without  due  process 
of  law.  Carrying  out  that  principle  into  its  practical  appli- 
cations, we  will  not  cease  our  efforts  until  slavery  shall  cease 
to  exist  wherever  it  can  be  reached  by  the  constitutional 
action  of  the  government. 


SALMON    P.  CHASE.  113 

"  Sir,  I  have  faith  in  progress.  I  have  faith  in  Democracy. 
The  planting  and  growth  of  this  nation,  upon  this  western 
continent,  was  not  an  accident.  The  establishment  of  the 
American  Government,  upon  the  sublime  principles  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the  organization  of  the 
Union  of  these  States,  under  our  existing  Constitution,  was 
the  work  of  great  men,  inspired  by  great  ideas,  guided  by 
Divine  Providence.  These  men,  the  fathers  of  the  Republic, 
have  bequeathed  to  us  the  great  duty  of  so  administering  the 
government  which  they  organized,  as  to  protect  the  rights, 
to  guard  the  interests,  and  promote  the  well-being,  of  all 
persons  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  thus  present  to  the  nations 
of  the  earth  a  noble  example  of  wise  and  just  self-government. 
Sir,  I  have  faith  enough  to  believe  that  we  shall  yet  fulfill 
this  high  duty.  Let  me  borrow  the  inspiration  of  Milton, 
while  I  declare  my  belief,  that  we  have  yet  a  country  '  not 
degenerated,  nor  drooping  to  a  fatal  decay,  but  destined,  by 
casting  off  the  old  and  wrinkled  skin  of  corruption,  to  out- 
live these  pangs,  and  wax  young  again,  and,  entering  the 
glorious  ways  of  truth  and  prosperous  virtue,  become  great 
and  honorable  in  these  latter  ages.  Methinks  I  see  in 
my  mind  a  great  and  puissant  nation  rousing  herself  like 
a  strong  man  after  sleep,  and  shaking  her  invincible 
locks.  Methinks  I  see  her  as  an  eagle  mewing  her  mighty 
youth,  and  kindling  her  undazzled  eyes  at  the  full  mid- 
day beam  ;  purging  and  unsealing  her  long-abused  sight 
at  the  fountain  itself  of  heavenly  radiance  ;  while  the  whole 
noise  of  timorous  and  flocking  birds,  with  those  also  that  love 
the  twilight,  flutter  about,  amazed  at  what  she  means,  and 
in  their  envious  gabble  would  prognosticate  a  year  of  sects 
and  schisms.' 

"  Sir,  we  may  fulfill  this  sublime  destiny,  if  we  will  but 
faithfully  adhere  to  the  great  maxims  of  the  Revolution ; 
honestly  carrying  into  their  legitimate  practical  applications 
the  high  principles  of  democracy  ;  and  preserve  inviolate 


114:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

plighted  faith  and  solemn  compacts.  Let  us  do  this,  putting 
our  trust  in  the  God  of  our  fathers,  and  there  is  no  dream 
of  national  prosperity,  power,  and  glory,  which  ancient  or 
modern  builders  of  ideal  commonwealths  ever  conceived, 
which  we  may  not  hope  to  realize.  But  if  we  turn  aside 
from  these  ways  of  honor,  to  walk  in  the  by-paths  of  tempo- 
rary expedients,  compromising  with  wrong,  abetting  oppres- 
sion, and  repudiating  faith,  the  wisdom  and  devotion  and 
labors  of  our  fathers  will  have  been  all — all  in  vain. 

"  Sir,  I  trust  that  the  result  of  this  discussion  will  show 
that  the  American  Senate  will  sanction  no  breach  of  com- 
pact. Let  us  strike  from  the  bill  the  statement  which  his- 
torical facts  and  our  personal  recollections  disprove,  and  then 
reject  every  proposition  which  looks  toward  a  violation  of  the 
plighted  faith  and  solemn  compact  which  our  fathers  made, 
and  which  we,  their  sons,  are  bound,  by  every  tie  of  obliga- 
tion, sacredly  to  maintain." 

Mr.  Chase's  opinions  respecting  the  independence 
of  the  State  courts  can  be  gathered  from  his  message 
to  the  Ohio  Legislature,  Jan.  4,  1858.  We  quote : 

"  A  disposition  has  been  manifested,  within  the  last  few 
years,  by  some  of  the  officials  of  the  Federal  Government, 
exercising  their  functions  within  the  limits  of  Ohio,  to  disre- 
gard the  authority,  and  to  encroach  upon  the  rights  of  the 
State,  to  an  extent  and  in  a  manner  which  demands  your 
notice. 

"  In  February,  1856,  several  colored  persons  were  seized 
in  Hamilton  County  as  fugitive  slaves.  One  of  these  persons, 
Margaret  Garner,  in  the  frenzy  of  the  moment,  impelled,  as 
it  seems,  by  the  dread  of  seeing  her  children  dragged,  with 
herself,  back  to  slavery,  attempted  to  slay  them  on  the  spot, 
and  actually  succeeded  in  killing  one.  For  this  act,  she  and 
her  companions  were  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  for  the 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  115 

crime  of  murder,  and  were  taken  into  custody  upon  a  writ 
regularly  issued  from  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

"  While  thus  imprisoned  under  the  legal  process  of  a  State 
court,  for  the  highest  crime  known  to  our  code,  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  issued  by  a  judge  of  the  District  Court  of 
the  United  States,  requiring  their  production  before  him. 
The  writ  was  obeyed  by  the  sheriff,  and,  contrary  to  all 
expectations,  and  in  disregard,  as  I  must  think,  of  principle 
and  authority,  the  prisoners  were,  taken  from  his  custody  by 
order  of  the  judge,  and,  without  allowing  any  opportunity 
for  the  interposition  of  the  State  authorities,  delivered  over 
to  the  Marshal  of  the  United  States,  by  whom  they  were 
immediately  transported  beyond  our  limits.  The  alleged 
ground  for  this  action  and  order  was  that  the  indicted  par- 
ties had  been  seized  as  fugitive  slaves  upon  a  Federal  Com- 
missioner's warrant,  before  the  indictment  and  arrest,  and 
that  the  right  to  their  custody,  thus  acquired,  was  superior 
to  that  of  the  sheriff,  under  the  process  of  the  State.  This 
doctrine  must  necessarily  give  practical  impunity  to  murder 
whenever  the  murderer  may  be  seized  by  a  federal  official 
as  a  fugitive  from  service  before  arrest  for  the  crime  under 
State  authority.  Imputing  no  wrong  intention  to  the  judge, 
I  am  constrained  to  add  that  his  proceeding  seems  to  me  an 
abuse,  rather  than  an  exercise,  of  judicial  power. 

"  A  similar  case  occurred  more  recently  in  the  county  of 
Champaign.  Several  deputies  of  the  federal  marshal  having 
arrested  certain  citizens  of  this  State  for  some  alleged  offence 
against  the  Fugitive  Slave  act,  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
issued  by  the  probate  judge  of  that  county,  requiring  the 
arrested  parties  to  be  brought  before  him  for  inquiry  into  the 
grounds  of  detention.  The  sheriff  of  Clark  County,  while 
attempting  to  execute  this  writ,  was  assaulted  by  these  petty 
officials  and  seriously  injured,  while  his  deputy  was  fired  upon, 
though  happily  without  effect.  A  warrant  was  issued  by  a 
justice  of  the  peace  for  the  apprehension  of  the  perpetrators 


116  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

of  these  offences.  This  warrant  was  duly  executed  and  the 
prisoners  committed  to  jail  under  the  custody  of  the  sheriff 
of  Clark  County.  A  writ  of  habeas  coqius  was  then  issued 
by  the  same  district  judge  who  had  interposed  in  the  case  of 
Margaret  Garner,  requiring  the  sheriff  of  Clark  County  to 
produce  his  prisoners  before  him  at  the  city  of  Cincinnati. 
This  writ  was  also  obeyed,  and  the  prisoners  were  discharged 
from  custody,  by  the  order  of  the  judge,  on  the  ground  that 
being  federal  officers,  and  charged  with  the  execution  of  a 
federal  writ,  they  had  a  right  -to  overcome,  by  any  necessary 
violence,  all  attempts  made  under  the  process  of  a  State 
court,  to  detain  them  or  their  prisoners,  even  for  inquiry  into 
the  legality  of  the  custody  in  which  those  prisoners  were 
held. 

"  This  principle  cannot  be  sound.  It  subverts  effectually 
the  sovereignty  of  the  State.  It  asserts  the  right  of  any 
district  judge  of  the  United  States  to  arrest  the  execution  of 
State  process,  and  to  nullify  the  functions  of  State  courts  and 
juries,  whenever  in  his  opinion  a  person  charged  with  crime 
under  State  authority  has  acted  in  the  matter  forming  the 
basis  of  the  charge,  in  pursuance  of  any  federal  law  or  war- 
rant. No  act  of  Congress,  in  my  judgment,  sanctions  this 
principle.  Such  an  act,  indeed,  would  be  clearly  unconstitu- 
tional, because  in  plain  violation  of  the  express  provision 
which  requires  that  the  trial  of  all  crimes  shall  be  by  jury. 

"  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  collisions  of  this  land 
should  occur.  The  authorities  of  Ohio  have  never  failed  in 
due  consideration  for  the  constitutional  rights  of  frileral 
courts,  nor  will  they  thus  fail.  But  they  cannot  admit,  v>  ith- 
out  dishonor,  that  State  process  is  entitled  to  less  respect 
than  federal,  nor  can  they  ever  concede  to  federal  writs  or 
federal  officials  a  deference  which  is  not  conceded  to  those 
of  the  State. 

"  The  true  course  is  one  of  mutual  respect  and  mutual 
deference.  Whenever,  in  any  inquiry  upon  habeas  corpus, 


SALMON   P.  CHASE.  117 

by  any  court,  State  or  federal,  it  may  be  ascertained  that 
the  applicant  for  the  writ  is  detained  under  valid  process  in 
pursuance  of  a  constitutional  law,  he  should  be  remanded  at 
once  to  the  custody  from  which  he  may  have  been  taken  for 
trial  hi  due  course.  No  investigation  should  take  place  into 
the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  party  charged,  or,  what  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  thing,  whether  the  facts  were  justified  by 
the  authority  under  which  the  applicant  was  acting  at  the 
tune.  Inquiries  of  this  character  are  for  juries  upon  a  regu- 
lar trial  and  in  open  court ;  not  for  a  judge  at  chambers.  If 
made  upon  one  side  upon  habeas  corpus,  they  must  also  be 
made  upon  the  other.  If  federal  courts  are  to  protect 
federal  officials  from  prosecution  by  State  courts  for  alleged 
violations  of  State  law,  State  courts  in  their  turn  must  pro* 
tect  State  officers  from  prosecution  in  federal  courts,  under 
similar  circumstances.  Hence,  dangerous  conflicts  must 
arise,  and  imminent  peril  both  to  liberty  and  union. 

"  If  such  conflicts  must  come,  to  the  extent  of  the  power 
rested  in  me,  I  shall  maintain  the  honor  of  the  State,  and 
support  the  authority  of  her  courts." 

We  have  scarcely  given  the  reader  a  sample  of 
Mr.  Chase's  style  of  speech,  or  opinions  on  the  slavery 
question,  and  it  is  quite  possible  we  have  not  given 
the  most  eloquent  extracts  which  may  be  found  in 
his  public  speeches  and  messages,  but  we  have 
quoted  enough  to  show  every  intelligent  reader  who 
Mr.  Chase  is  and  what  his  opinions  are. 


EDWARD  BATES. 

shall  only  give  an  outline  sketch  of  Edward 
Bates,  of  Missouri,  for  though  a  man  whose  name  is 
prominently  before  the  public,  yet  he  has  seen  little 
of  that  congressional  life  which  gives  a  man  a  politi- 
cal record. 

Mr.  Bates  was  born  in  Goochland  County,  Virginia, 
on  the  4th  of  September,  1793,  being  the  seventh 
son  and  twelfth  child  of  Thomas  F.  Bates.  His  an- 
cestors came  from  the  west  of  England  to  the  James- 
town settlement  as  early  as  1625,  and  they  were  plain 
people  of  the  middle  rank  of  English  life.  They  were 
Quakers,  and  remained  so  for  more  than  a  century — 
some  of  the  descendants  to  this  day.  The  ancestors 
of  Mr.  Bates,  however,  forfeited  membership  in  the 
Society  of  Friends — or  we  should  say,  rather,  Mr. 
Bates'  father,  Thomas  F.  Bates,  lost  his  membership 
with  the  Society  for  bearing  arms  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  A  noble  cause  to  die  for,  and  certainly 
to  lose  ecclesiastical  relations  for !  He  was  at  the 
siege  of  York ;  and  his  children  from  that  day  were 
no  more  Quakers. 

The  scholastic  education   of  Mr.  Bates  was  not 

118 


EDWAKD   DATES.  119 

perhaps  first-class.  He  entered  no  college  and  passed 
through  with  no  "course,"  but  was,  nevertheless, 
well  taught  in  the  elements,  at  home,  by  his  father 
and  a  kinsman,  Benj.  Bates,  of  Hanover;  at  school, 
for  several  years,  at  Charlotte  Hall  Academy,  Mary- 
land ;  and  a  most  excellent  school  it  was. 

The  choice  of  the  young  man  for  a  profession  was 
the  navy,  and  in  the  winter  of  1811-12,  a  midship- 
man's warrant  was  offered  him  ;  but  in  deference  to 
the  wishes  of  his  mother,  he  declined  it  and  gave  up 
his  choice.  This  fact  gives  a  key  to  the  man's  cha- 
racter. He  has  always  been  willing  to  do  his  duty, 
however  great  the  personal  sacrifice.  In  1813,  he 
served  as  a  volunteer  at  Norfolk,  Ya.,  in  a  militia 
regiment.  In  1814,  he  emigrated  to  St.  Louis,  under 
the  kind  care  of  his  elder  brother,  Frederick  Bates, 
then  Secretary  of  Missouri  Territory,  and  afterward 
Governor  of  the  State.  He  entered  the  law  office  of 
Rufus  Easton,  an  eminent  lawyer,  who  was  in  his 
time  a  delegate  from  the  territory  in  Congress.  In 
1816,  he  was  duly  licensed  to  practise  law,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  well  that  in  1819  he  was  appointed  Circuit 
Attorney.  In  1820,  he  was  one  of  the  eight  men 
who  represented  St.  Louis  County  in  the  convention 
which  formed  the  State  Constitution  for  Missouri. 
Later,  he  was  the  Attorney-General  of  the  State ;  and 
later  yet,  was  elected  for  several  times  to  both  houses 
of  the  Missouri  General  Assembly.  In  1824,  Presi- 


120  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

dent  Monroe  appointed  him  U.  S.  Attorney-General 
for  the  Missouri  District.  In  1826,  he  was  elected  to 
Congress,  where  he  served  honorably  for  two  years. 
In  1828,  he  ran  again,  but  was  beaten  by  the  storm 
of  Jackson  politics.  This  result  of  the  congressional 
campaign  seemed  to  disgust  him  with  public  political 
life,  and  he  quietly  withdrew  to  private  life.  He 
has  since  steadily  practised  law  to  support  a  large 
family — with  one  exception.  In  1853,  he  was  elected 
Judge  of  the  St.  Louis  Land  Court.  After  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  the  office  for  about  three  years,  he 
resigned  it  and  went  back  to  the  practice  of  the  law. 

In  1847,  to  go  back  a  little,  Mr.  Bates  presided 
over  the  Internal  Improvement  Convention  at  Chi- 
cago. In  1850,  Mr.  Fillmore  appointed  him  Secre- 
tary of  War,  but  he  declined  the  office.  In  1856,  he 
presided  at  the  Whig  Convention  in  Baltimore ;  in 
1858,  received  from  Harvard  University  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  We  omitted  to  mention 
that,  in  1823,  Mr.  Bates  married  Julia  D.  Coulter,  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  by  whom  he  has  had  seven- 
teen children,  eight  of  whom  survive. 

Before  we  give  a  few  of  Mr.  Bates'  political  opin 
ions,  one  fact  should  be  stated.  He,  a  southern  man, 
went  to  Missouri  and  became  a  slaveholder,  by  in- 
heritance and  otherwise ;  yet,  a  few  years  since,  set 
his  slaves  free,  and  is  understood  to  be  unequivocally 
in  favor  of  emancipation  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 


EDWARD   BATES.  121 

Now  for  Mr.  Bates'  political  opinions — and  we 
shall  quote  from  his  late  letter.  He  says,  speaking 
of  slavery : 

"  As  to  the  negro  question,  I  have  always  thought,  and 
often  declared,  iu  speech  and  in  print,  that  it  is  a  pestilent 
question,  the  agitation  of  which  has  never  done  good  to  any 
party,  section,  or  class,  and  never  can  do  good,  unless  it  be 
accounted  good  to  stir  up  the  angry  passions  of  men,  and 
exasperate  the  unreasoning  jealousies  of  sections,  and  by  these 
bad  means  foist  some  unfit  men  into  office,  and  keep  some  fit 
men  out.  It  is  a  sensitive  question,  into  whose  dangerous 
vortex  it  is  quite  possible  for  good  men  to  be  drawn  un- 
awares. But  when  I  see  a  man,  at  the  South  or  the  North, 
of  mature  age  and  some  experience,  persist  in  urging  the 
question,  after  the  successful  experience  of  the  last  few  years, 
I  can  attribute  his  conduct  to  no  higher  motive  than  personal 
ambition  or  sectional  prejudice." 

This  is  all  Mr.  Bates  says  on  the  slavery  question. 
He  then  goes  on  to  speak  in  favor  of  internal  improve- 
ments to  advance  the  interests  and  protect  the  rights 
and  industry  of  the  country. 

"  Protection,  if  not  the  sole,  is  the  chief  end  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  for  the  governing  power  to  judge,  in  every 
instance,  what  kind  and  what  degree  of  protection  is  needful — -• 
whether  a  navy  to  guard  our  commerce  all  around  the  world, 
or  an  army  to  defend  the  country  against  armed  invasion 
from  without,  or  domestic  insurrection  from  within ;  or  a 
tariff  to  protect  our  home  industry  against  the  dangerous 
obtrusion  of  foreign  labor  and  capital. 

As  to  our  foreign  policy  generally,  he  says  he  is 


122  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

willing  to  leave  it  where  Washington  placed  it,  on  the 
sage  maxim,  "  Peace  with  all  nations ;  entangling 
alliances  with  none."  The  greedy  appetite  for  for- 
eign acquisition  which  makes  us  covet  our  neighbor's 
lands,  and  devise  cunning  schemes  to  get  them,  has 
little  of  his  sympathy.  He  argues  this  point  briefly, 
but  forcibly,  opposing  the  acquisition  of  Cuba,  and 
the  other  islands  and  Central  American  countries 
which  would  then  be  demanded.  As  to  buying  them, 
we  had  better  wait  till  we  cease  borrowing  money  to 
pay  current  expenses ;  and  before  conquering,  pause 
and  estimate  the  cost  of  rushing  into  war  with  all 
maritime  Europe,  and  half  of  America.  Cuba  has 
much  more  to  fear  from  us  than  we  have  to  fear  from 
Cuba.  Mr.  Bates  continues : 

"  But  suppose  we  could  get,  honestly  and  peaceably,  the 
whole  country,  continental  and  insular,  from  the  Rip  Grande 
to  the  Orinoco,  and  from  Trinidad  to  Cuba,  and  thus  estab- 
lish our  mare,  clausum,  and  shut  the  gate  of  the  world  across 
the  Isthmus,  can  we  govern  them  wisely  and  well  ?  For  the 
last  few  years,  in  the  attempt  to  govern  our  home  territories 
of  Kansas  and  Utah,  we  have  not  very  well  maintained  the 
dignity  and  justice  of  the  nation,  nor  secured  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  subject  people. 

"  For  my  part,  I  should  grieve  to  have  my  country  become, 
like  Rome,  a  conquering  and  dominant  nation  ;  for  I  think 
there  are  few  or  no  examples  in  history,  of  governments 
whose  chief  objects  were  glory  and  power,  which  did  ever 
secure  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  their  own  people. 
Such  governments  may  grow  great  and  famous,  and  advance 


EDWAED   BATES.  123 

a  few  of  their  citizens  to  wealth  and  nobility,  but  the  price 
of  their  grandeur  is  the  personal  independence  and  individual 
freedom  of  their  people.  Still  less  am  I  inclined  to  see 
absorbed  into  our  system,  "  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  origi- 
nal States,"  the  various  and  mixed  races  (amounting  to  I 
know  not  how  many  millions)  which  inhabit  the  continent 
and  isthmus  south  of  our  present  border.  I  am  not  willing 
to  inoculate  our  body  politic  with  the  virus  of  their  diseases, 
political  and  social — diseases  which,  with  them,  are  chronic 
and  hereditary,  and  with  us  could  hardly  fail  to  produce  cor- 
ruption in  the  mind  and  weakness  in  the  members." 

The  letter  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  an  efficient,  home-loving  government, 
moderate  and  economical  in  its  administration,  peaceful  in  its 
objects,  and  just  to  all  nations,  need  havecno  fear  of  invasion 
at  home,  or  serious  aggressions  abroad.  The  nations  of 
Europe  have  to  stand  continually  in  defence  of  their  existence, 
but  the  conquest  of  our  country  by  a  foreign  power  is  simply 
impossible,  and  no  nation  is  so  absurd  as  to  entertain  the 
thought.  We  may  conquer  ourselves  by  local  strifes  and 
sectional  animosities,  and  when,  by  our  folly  and  wickedness, 
we  have  accomplished  that  great  calamity,  there  will  be  none 
to  pity  us  for  the  consequences  of  so  great  a  crime. 

"  If  our  government  would  devote  all  its  energies  to  the 
promotion  of  peace  and  friendship  with  all  foreign  countries  ; 
the  advancement  of  commerce  ;  the  increase  of  agriculture  ; 
the  growth  and  stability  of  manufactures,  and  the  cheapen- 
ing, quickening,  and  securing  the  internal  trade  and  travel  of  onr 
country  ;  in  short,  if  it  would  devote  itself  in  earnest  to  the 
establishment  of  a  wise  and  steady  policy  of  internal  govern- 
ment, I  think  we  should  witness  a  growth  and  consolidation  of 
wealth  and  comfort,  and  power  for  good,  which  cannot  be  rea- 
sonably hoped  for  from  a  fluctuating  policy,  always  watching 


124  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

for  the  turns  of  good  fortune,  or  from  a  grasping  ambition  to 
seize  new  territories,  which  are  hard  to  get  and  harder  to 
govern. 

"  The  present  position  of  the  administration  is  a  sorrowful 
commentary  upon  the  broad  democracy  of  its  professions.  In 
theory,  the  people  have  the  right  and  ability  to  do  anything — 
in  practice,  we  are  verging  rapidly  to  the  one  man  power. 

"  The  President,  the  ostensible  head  of  the  national  Demo- 
crats, is  eagerly  striving  to  concentrate  power  in  his  own 
hajnds,  and  thus  exclude  both  the  people  and  their  representa- 
tives from  the  actual  affairs  of  government.  Having  emp- 
tied the  treasury,  which  he  found  full,  and  living  precariously 
upon  the  borrowed  money,  he  now  demands  of  Congress  to 
intrust  to  his  unchecked  discretion  the  war  power,  the  purse, 
and  the  sword. 

"  First,  he  asks  Congress  to  authorize  him,  by  statute,  to 
use  the  army  to  talft  military  possession  of  northern  Mexico, 
and  hold  it  under  his  protectorate,  and  as  a  security  for  debts 
due  to  our  citizens.  Civil  possession  would  not  answer,  for 
that  exposes  him,  as  in  the  case  of  Kansas,  to  be  annoyed  by  a 
factious  Congress,  and  a  rebellious  territorial  legislature. 

"  Second,  not  content  with  this,  he  demands  discretionary 
power  to  use  the  army  and  navy  in  the  South  also,  in  blockad- 
ing the  coast  and  marching  his  troops  into  the  interior  of  Mex- 
ico and  New  Granada,  to  protect  our  citizens  against  all  evil 
doers  along  the  transit  route  of  Tehuantepec  and  Panama, 
and  he  and  his  supporters  claim  this  enormous  power  upon 
the  ground  that,  in  this  particular  at  least,  he  ought  to  be  the 
equal  of  the  greatest  monarch  of  Europe.  They  forget  that 
our  fathers  limited  the  power  of  the  President  by  design,  and 
for  the  reason  that  they  had  found  out,  by  sad  experience, 
that  the  monarchs  of  Europe  were  too  strong  for  freedom. 

"  Third,  in  strict  pursuance  of  his  doctrine,  first  publicly 
announced  from  Ostend,  he  demands  of  Congress  to  hand 
over  to  him  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  to  be  used  at  his  dis- 


EDWAED   BATES.  125 

cretion,  to  facilitate  his  acquisition  of  Cuba.  Facilitate — 
how  ?  Perhaps  it  would  be  imprudent  to  tell. 

Add  to  all  this  the  fact  (as  yet  unexplained)  that  one  of 
the  largest  naval  armaments  which  sailed  from  our  coasts  is 
now  operating  in  South  America,  ostensibly  against  a  poor 
little  republic  far  up  the  Plata  River,  to  settle  some  little 
quarrel  between  the  two  Presidents.  If  Congress  had  been 
polite  enough  to  grant  the  President's  demand  of  the  sword 
and  the  purse  against  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Cuba, 
this  navy,  its  duty  done  at  the  South,  might  be  made,  on  its 
way  home,  to  arrive  in  the  Gulf  very  opportunely,  to  aid  the 
'  Commander-in-Chief '  in  the  acquisition  of  some  very  valu- 
able territory. 

"  I  allude  to  these  facts  with  no  malice  against  Mr. 
Buchanan,  but  as  evidences  of  the  dangerous  change  which 
is  now  obviously  sought  to  be  made  in  the  practical  working 
of  the  Government — the  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands 
of  the  President — and  the  dangerous  policy,  now  almost 
established,  of  looking  abroad  for  temporary  glory  and 
aggrandizement,  instead  of  looking  at  home  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  good  government — peaceable,  moderate,  economical 
— protecting  all  interests,  and  by  a  fixed  policy  calling  into 
safe  exercise  all  the  talents  and  industry  of  our  people,  and 
thus  steadily  advancing  our  country  in  everything  which  can 
make  a  nation  great,  happy,  and  permanent. 

"  The  rapid  increase  of  the  public  expenditures  (and  that, 
too,  under  the  management  of  statesmen  professing  to  be  pecu- 
liarly economical)  is  an  alarming  sign  of  corruption  and  decay. 

"  The  increase  bears  no  fair  proportion  to  the  growth  and 
expansion  of  the  country,  but  looks  rather  like  wanton  waste 
and  criminal  negligence.  The  ordinary  objects  are  not 
materially  augmented — the  army  and  navy  remained  on  a 
low  peace  establishment — the  military  defences  are  little,  if 
at  all  enlarged — the  improvement  of  harbors,  lakes  and 
rivers  is  abandoned,  and  the  Pacific  railway  is  not  only  not 


126  PEESEDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

begun,  bnt  its  very  location  is  scrambled  for  by  hungry  sec- 
tions, which  succeed  in  nothing  but  mutual  defeat.  In  short, 
the  money,  to  an  enormous  amount  (I  am  told  at  the  rate 
of  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  millions  a  year),  is  gone,  and 
we  have  h'ttle  or  nothing  to  show  for  it. 

"  In  profound  peace  with  foreign  nations,  and  surrounded 
by  the  proofs  of  national  growth  and  individual  prosperity, 
the  treasury,  by  less  than  two  years  of  mismanagement,  is 
made  bankrupt,  and  the  government  itself  is  living  from 
hand  to  mouth  on  bills  of  credit  and  borrowed  money !  This 
humiliating  state  of  things  could  hardly  happen,  if  the  men 
in  power  were  both  honest  and  wise.  The  democratic  econo- 
mists in  Congress  confess  that  they  have  recklessly  wasted  the 
public  revenue ;  they  confess  it  by  refusing  to  raise  the  tariff 
to  meet  the  present  exigency,  and  by  insisting  that  they  can 
replenish  the  exhausted  treasury  and  support  the  government, 
in  credit  and  efficiency,  by  simply  striking  off  their  former 
extravagances. 

"  An  illustrious  predecessor  of  the  President  is  reported 
to  have  declared  '  that  those  who  live  on  borrowed  money 
ought  to  break.'  I  do  not  concur  in  that  harsh  saying  ;  yet 
I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  government,  in  common 
prudence  (to  say  nothing  of  pride  and  dignity),  ought  to  re- 
serve its  credit  for  great  transactions  and  unforeseen  emer- 
gencies. In  common  tunes  of  peace,  it  ought  always  to  have 
an  established  revenue,  equal,  at  least,  to  its  current  expenses. 
And  that  revenue  ought  to  be  so  levied  as  to  foster  and  pro- 
tect the  industry  of  the  country,  employed  in  our  most  neces- 
sary and  important  manufactures." 


DANIEL   S.   DICKINSON". 

DANIEL  STEVENS  DICKINSON  was  born  at  Goshen, 
Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  Sept.  11,  1800. 

His  father,  Daniel  T.  Dickinson,  was  a  farmer,  an 
intelligent,  upright  man,  who  through  life  was  de- 
voted to  his  calling  as  the  most  honorable  and  useful, 
and  left  an  unsullied  name. 

In  1806,  the  family  removed  to  what  is  now  Guil- 
ford,  Chenango  County,  New  York,  where  Daniel  S. 
Dickinson  spent  his  boyhood,  mostly  on  the  farm,  in 
the  usual  occupations  of  a  farmer's  boy. 

His  education,  as  far  as  public  advantages  were 
concerned,  was  limited  to  the  common  schools  of  the 
country ;  but  with  a  spirit  of  self-reliance,  untiring 
industry  and  an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge  and 
advancement,  he  availed  himself  of  such  private 
facilities  as  he  could  command  or  devise,  and  perse- 
vering in  a  plan  of  self-education  systematically, 
with  a  fine  literary  taste  and  extensive  reading  and 
study,  he  early  became  a  thorough  English  scholar, 
well  versed  in  the  classics  and  familiar  with  general 
literature. 

Between  1816  and  1820,  he  learned,  and  worked 

127 


128  PKESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATES. 

as  apprentice  and  journeyman  at,  a  mechanic's  trade. 
In  1820,  he  commenced  teaching  and  was  successfrilly 
engaged  in  it  considerably  up  to  1825,  both  in  the 
common  and  in  academical  or  select  schools. 

About  1820,  he  learned,  without  a  teacher,  the  art 
of  land  surveying,  in  which  he  became  expert,  and 
practised  somewhat  extensively  until  1828.  During 
a  portion  of  the  time,  while  teaching  and  surveying, 
he  was  also  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law.  He 
married,  in  1822,  Lydia  Knapp,  daughter  of  the  late 
Colby  Knapp,  M.D.,  an  early  settler  of  Guilford,  a 
prominent  member  of  the  medical  profession,  and 
extensively  identified  with  the  early  history  of  the 
town  and  county.  They  have  had  four  children, 
only  two  of  whom,  the  youngest — daughters — are 
living.  In  1828,  he  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of 
the  law,  and  opened  an  office  at  Guilford,  where  he 
remained  in  practice  until  1831. 

In  December,  1831,  he  removed  to  Binghamton, 
the  county  seat  of  Broome  County,  New  York,  where 
he  has  ever  since  resided.  He  immediately  entered 
upon  an  extensive  legal  practice,  and  soon  took  rank 
among  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State.  He  was  made 
the  first  President  of  Binghamton,  on  its  municipal  or- 
ganization in  1834.  "Was  a  member  of  the  Baltimore 
Convention  which  nominated  Yan  Buren  and  John- 
son, in  1835.  "Was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  the 
fall  of  1836;  took  his  seat  1st  January,  1837,  and 


DANIEL   8.  DICKINSON".  129 

served  for  four  years  as  a  senator  and  member  of  the 
Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors,  in  both  of  which 
capacities,  as  a  debater,  legislator  and  jurist,  he 
maintained  a  prominent  rank.  His  review  in  the 
Senate  of  the  message  of  Governor  Seward  estab- 
lished him  at  once  as  a  leader  of  his  party,  and  is 
still  referred  to  among  politicians  as  exhibiting  both 
the  tact  and  power  which  afterward  so  strongly 
marked  his  public  career.  His  opinions  delivered  in 
the  Court  of  Errors  are  models  of  conciseness  and 
force,  and  temper  in  just  proportion  the  technicalities 
of  law  with  the  deductions  of  sound  reason  and 
strong  common  sense. 

His  term  in  the  State  Senate  expired  Dec.  31, 1840. 
At  the  election  in  1840,  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  Lieut.  Governor,  at  the  time  Mr.  Yan  Buren 
ran  the  second  time  for  President,  and  was  defeated, 
though  he  received  5,000  more  votes  than  Mr.  Van 
Buren. 

In  1842,  finding  that  his  name  was  being  used 
again  in  connection  with  the  office  of  Lieut.  Gover- 
nor, he  declined  the  nomination  in  advance  of  the 
meeting  of  the  convention,  but  was  nevertheless 
nominated  unanimously  and  by  acclamation,  and 
compelled  by  circumstances  to  accept,  and  was 
elected  by  25,000  majority.  The  office  of  Lieut. 
Governor  made  him  President  of  the  Senate,  Presid- 
ing Judge  of  the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors, 

6* 


130  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

member  of  the  Canal  Board,  Kegent  of  the  Univer- 
sity, etc.,  etc.  His  term  of  office  expired  Dec.  31, 
1844,  and  he  declined  a  reelection.  It  was  held 
during  a  somewhat  stormy  period  in  the  history  of 
the  State,  but  was  so  discharged  as  to  add  to  his 
reputation  with  the  people  and  his  standing  with  the 
Democratic  party.  As  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
Senate,  in  particular,  he  showed  a  decision,  firm- 
ness and  dignity  of  character  which  elicited  the 
admiration  and  approval  of  opponents  as  well  as 
friends. 

At  the  election  in  1844,  he  opened  the  Presidential 
campaign  in  New  York  on  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
which  he  warmly  advocated  against  the  opinion  of 
many  leading  Democrats.  He  spent  the  whole  cam- 
paign upon  the  stump ;  was  one  of  the  Democratic 
State  electors,  and  united  in  casting  the  vote  of  the 
State  for  Polk  and  Dallas.  About  the  1st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1844,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Bouck 
United  State  senator  in  place  of  X.  P.  Tallmadge, 
resigned,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  Washington 
and  took  his  seat  as  such.  Governor  Tallmadge's 
term  expired  on  the  4th  of  March,  1845.  On  the 
meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  January,  1845,  he  was 
elected  for  the  unexpired  term  of  Governor  Tall- 
madge, and  subsequently  for  the  regular  term  of  six 
years,  from  4th  March,  1845  ;  during  which  term  he 
remained  in  the  Senate,  closing  his  public  service  4th 


DANIEL   8.  DICKINSON.  131 

March,  1851.  For  a  number  of  years  lie  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Finance  in  the  Senate,  but 
declined  it,  and  all  committee  service,  the  last  short 
session  of  the  term. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  to  bear  the 
remains  of  Mr.  Calhoun  to  his  native  State,  and  dis- 
charged the  duty  with  the  almost  filial  regard  he  felt 
for  the  great  man  who  had  been  called  away  from 
the  field  of  his  public  labors.  This  is  the .  only  time 
he  ever  visited  the  South ;  but,  though  necessarily  a 
hasty  trip,  he  received  many  tokens  of  public  and 
private  appreciation. 

In  1847,  he  introduced  into  the  Senate,  and  advo- 
cated in  an  able  speech,  his  celebrated  resolution  on 
the  acquisition  and  annexation  of  territory,  and  as- 
serting, in  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  the  "Wilmot 
Proviso,  the  principles  of  "  popular  sovereignty," 
which  formed  the  basis  of  the  adjustment  of  1850,  and 
has  since  been  so  fully  approved  by  the  people. 

He  opposed  the  Oregon  Treaty,  which  surren- 
dered several  degrees  of  American  territory  to  Great 

Britain. 

^ 

He  opposed  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  which 
he  conceived  to  be  a  cheat,  and  has  been  a  constant 
source  of  embarrassment  and  misunderstanding  be- 
tween the  two  governments. 

During  the  session  of  1850,  he  was  given  a  public 
dinner  by  the  Democrats  of  the  counties  of  New 


132  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

York,  Kings,  Queens,  Kichmond  and  Westchester,  at 
the  city  of  New  York.  The  invitation  was  tendered 
by  the  leading  Democrats  of  the  five  counties.  They 
said  in  it  that  the  occasion  was  sought  for  the  pur- 
pose of  "  giving  full  utterance  to  the  sentiments  of 
respect  and  confidence  with  which  his  distinguished 
political  services  to  our  common  country  had  inspired 
them,"  and  closed  as  follows :  "In  the  trying  crisis 
-through  which  our  country,  and  we  may  add  the 
cause  of  the  world's  freedom,  and  of  Republicanism, 
is  now  passing,  the  State  of  New  York  is  most  fortu- 
nate in  being  represented  in  the  Senate  of  the  Union, 
by  one  whose  patriotism  soars  above  the  level  of 
time-serving  purposes,  and  whose  eminent  talents  and 
moral  worth  command  respect  both  in  the  State  he 
represents,  and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation." 

On  his  visit  to  New  York,  in  compliance  with  this 
invitation,  besides  the  splendid  public  fete,  at  which 
Charles  O'Connor  presided,  he  was  waited  upon  by  the 
various  Democratic  committees  with  resolutions  and 
congratulatory  addresses  appro ving  his  course ;  was 
made  the  guest  of  the  Common  Council,  although  it 
was  then  politically  Whig,  who  unanimously  pre- 
sented him  the  "  freedom  of  the  city,"  and  passed 
resolutions  thanking  him  for  his  public  services  in 
behalf  of  the  city  and  State. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Thirteen 
in  the  Senate,  of  which  Mr.  Clay  was  chairman, 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  133 

which  perfected  the  compromise  measures  of  1850, 
and  took  a  leading  part  in  their  advocacy  and  adop- 
tion :  a  policy  which,  though  often  disturbed  by 
demagogues  of  both  parties  since,  has  signally  borne 
the  test  of  the  public  judgment.  At  the  close  of  the 
session  at  which  those  measures  were  adopted,  he 
received  from  Mr.  Webster  the  beautiful  letter  in 
reference  to  his  course,  which  we  append. 

MK.   WEBSTER  TO   ME.    DICKINSON. 

WASHINGTON,  Sept.  27, 1850. 

MY  DEAK  SIB  :  "Our  companionship  in  the  Senate 
is  dissolved.  After  this  long  and  important  session, 
you  are  about  to  return  to  your  home,  and  I  shall  try 
to  find  leisure  to  visit  mine.  I  hope  we  may  meet 
each  other  again  two  months  hence  for  the  discharge 
of  our  duties  in  our  respective  stations  in  the  govern- 
ment. But  life  is  uncertain,  and  I  have  not  felt 
willing  to  take  leave  of  you  without  placing  in  your 
hands  a  note  containing  a  few  words  which  I  wish  to 
say  to  you. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  our  acquaintance,  my  dear 
sir,  occurrences  took  place  which  I  remember  with 
constantly  increasing  pain,  because  the  more  I  have 
known  of  you  the  greater  has  been  my  respect  for 
your  talents.  But  it  is  your  noble,  able,  manly  and 
patriotic  conduct  in  support  of  the  great  measures  of 
this  session  which  has  entirely  won  my  heart,  and 


134  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

secured  my  highest  regard.  I  hope  you  may  live 
long  to  serve  your  country ;  but  I  do  not  think  you 
are  ever  likely  to  see  a  crisis  in  which  you  may  be 
able  to  do  so  much  either  for  your  own  distinction  or 
for  the  public  good.  You  have  stood  where  others 
have  fallen ;  you  have  advanced  with  firm  and  manly 
step  where  others  have  wavered,  faltered  and  fallen 
back,  and,  for  one,  I  desire  to  thank  you,  and  to 
commend  your  conduct  out  of  the  fullness  of  an 
honest  heart. 

This  letter  needs  no  reply ;  it  is,  I  am  aware,  of 
very  little  value,  but  I  have  thought  you  might  be 
willing  to  receive  it,  and  perhaps  to  leave  it  where  it 
would  be  seen  by  those  who  may  come  after  you. 

I  pray  you,  when  you  reach  your  own  threshold,  to 
remember  me  most  kindly  to  your  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, and  I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  the  truest  esteem, 
your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

DAN'L  WEBSTER. 

MR.  DICKINSON  TO  MR.  WEBSTER. 

BlNGHAMTON,   Oct.  5,  1850. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  perused  and  re-perused  the  beau- 
tiful note  which  you  placed  in  my  hands  as  I  was 
about  leaving  Washington,  with  deeper  emotion  than 
I  have  ever  experienced,  except  under  some  domestic 
vicissitude.  Since  I  learned  the  noble  and  generous 
qualities  of  your  nature,  the  unfortunate  occurrence 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  135 

in  our  early  acquaintance,  to  which  you  refer,  has 
caused  me  many  moments  of  painful  regret,  and 
your  confiding  communication  has  furnished  a  pow- 
erful illustration  of  the  truth  that  "  to  err  is  human, 
to  forgive  divine."  Numerous  and  valued  are  the 
testimonials  of  confidence  and  regard  which  a  some- 
what extended  acquaintance  and  lengthened  public 
service  have  gathered  around  me,  but  among  them 
all  there  is  none  to  which  my  heart  clings  so  fondly 
as  this. 

I  have  presented  it  to  my  family  and  friends  as 
the  proudest  passage  in  the  history  of  an  eventful 
life,  and  shall  transmit  it  to  my  posterity  as  a  sacred 
and  cherished  memento  of  friendship.  I  thank 
Heaven  that  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  be  associated 
with  yourself  and  others  in  resisting  the  mad  current 
of  disunion  which  threatened  to  overwhelm  us  ;  and 
the  recollection  that  my  course  upon  a  question  so 
momentous  has  received  the  approbation  of  the  most 
distinguished  American  statesman,  has  more  than 
satisfied  my  ambition.  Believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 
that  of  all  the  patriots  that  came  forward  in  the  evil 
day  of.  their  country,  there  was  no  voice  so  potential 
as  your  own.  Others  could  buffet  the  dark  and 
angry  waves,  but  it  was  your  strong  arm  that  could 
roll  them  back  from  the  holy  citadel. 

May  that  beneficent  Being  who  holds  the  destiny 
of  men  and  nations,  long  spare  you  to  the  public 


136  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

service,  and  may  your  vision  never  rest  upon  the 
disjointed  fragments  of  a  convulsed  and  ruined 
confederacy. 

I  pray  you  to  accept  and  to  present  to  Mrs. 
Webster  the  kind  remembrance  of  myself  and 
family,  and  believe  me  sincerely  yours, 

D.  S.  DICKINSON. 

He  (Mr.  Dickinson)  was  a  member  of  the  Baltimore 
Convention  of  1848.  In  1852,  he  was  again  a  mem- 
ber. The  convention  failed  to  nominate  on  the  first 
day  of  its  sitting.  The  second  day,  on  assembling  in 
the  morning,  the  Virginia  delegation  presented  his 
name  for  the  Presidency.  Having  been  the  friend 
and  supporter  of  Gen.  Cass  for  the  nomination,  whose 
name  in  the  balloting  then  stood  at  about  100,  he 
thought  that  in  honor  he  could  not  become  a  candi- 
date, and  arose  in  the  convention  and  declined  the 
use  of  his  name  in  a  speech  which  did  honor  to  his 
patriotism  and  self-sacrifice,  and  was  received  with 
the  warmest  applause,  though  many  of  his  friends 
and  the  sound  democracy  of  the  country  regretted 
his  decision.  Virginia  subsequently  brought  forward, 
in  the  same  manner,  the  name  of  Gen.  Pierce,  and 
he  was  nominated  and  elected. 

In  1853,  he  was  appointed  to  the  valuable  office  of 
Collector  of  the  Port  of  .New  York,  which  he  de- 
clined. In  1858,  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 


DANIEL   8.  DICKINSON.  137 

Laws  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  Faculty  of  Hamil- 
ton College,  New  York.  Since  the  expiration  of  his 
senatorial  term,  he  has  been  entirely  devoted  to  pro- 
fessional and  rural  occupations,  and  is  at  present 
conducting  a  large  professional  business.  He  has 
not  mingled  extensively  in  political  aifairs  since,  but 
was  upon  the  stump  in  the  presidential  campaigns  of 
1852  and  1856,  in  his  own  and  some  of  the  other 
States.1* 

Mr.  Dickinson  possesses  a  strong  constitution,  and 
firm  and  uniform  health.  His  habits  are  those  of 
exact  regularity  and  active  industry.  He  is  capable 
of  great  concentration  of  effort,  and  of  endurance, 
and  performs  every  day  of  his  life,  either  at  the 
courts,  in  his  office,  upon  his  grounds,  or  keeping  up 
his  extensive  correspondence,  a  vast  amount  of  labor. 

He  is  devoted  to  his  family  and  friends,  is  domestic 
in  his  tastes,  and  his  most  cherished  hours  are  those 
spent  in  the  confidence  and  quietude  of  home. 

Cheerful,  genial  and  hospitable  in  his  disposition 
and  intercourse,  he  is  exceedingly  popular  in  social 
life ;  his  ready  wit  and  fund  of  anecdote,  with  his 
varied  and  more  solid  powers  of  conversation,  always 
make  him  welcome,  and  render  him  in  society  the 
centre  of  many  a  delighted  circle. 

He  writes  with  facility,  and  in  a  style  pointed  and 
vigorous. 

His  speeches  are  characterized   always  by  plain 


138  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

and  direct  purpose,  sound  argument  and  happy  illus- 
tration, and  often  by  sparkling  repartee  and  passages 
of  stirring  eloquence.  Some  of  his  most  effective 
efforts  have  been  made  without  previous  preparation. 
In  public  life  his  distinguishing  characteristics  have 
been  fidelity  to  friends  and  party,  and  the  courage 
and  intrepidity  with  which,  regardless  of  considera- 
tions personal  to  himself,  his  opinions  have  been 
maintained. 

In  public  or  in  private  life,  the  integrity  and  purity 
of  his  character  have  never  been  questioned. 

To  show  how  Mr.  Dickinson  is  regarded  by  his 
political  friends,  we  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  a 
sketch  of  the  man  in  a  New  York  journal  friendly  to 
him: 

"  Mr.  Dickinson  is,  in  the  true  and  democratic  sense  of  the 
terra,  a  national  man.  And  while  there  have  been,  and  still 
are,  a  few,  both  North  and  South,  who  have  believed,  and  do 
believe,  that  emergencies  may  arise  in  the  affairs  of  our 
country,  when  it  would  be  better  to  '  let  the  Union  slide,' 
his  course  will  show  that  in  his  belief,  under  no  possible  or 
conceivable  circumstances,  could  a  greater  misfortune  happen 
to  our  country  and  the  cause  of  humanity  itself,  than  a  rup- 
ture or  dismemberment  of  the  American  Union.  This  con- 
viction has  animated  and  controlled  all  his  conduct  as  a  man 
and  a  public  servant.  In  the  elements  of  his  character, 
there  is  no  neutrality  or  non-committal ;  his  leading  peculiar- 
ities are  point  and  positiveness — there  is  nothing  negative 
about  the  man,  his  convictions  are  all  absolute,  and  they  are 
always  vitalized  into  practical  efficiency.  Hence  no  man  has 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  139 

warmer  or  more  attached  personal  friends,  and  none  more 
bitter  political  opponents,  than  he.  The  Van  Buren  men  of 
New  York,  who  defeated  Gen.  Cass,  in  1848,  by  their 
treachery  to  the  democratic  party,  have  acted  as  though 
they  thought  his  very  political  existence  was  a  standing 
rebuke  and  shame  for  their  treasonable  desertion  ;  and  hence 
they  have  spared  no  pains  or  efforts  to  vilify  his  character 
by  the  grossest  misrepresentations.  Yet  notwithstanding 
these  efforts  of  a  false  arid  disappointed  faction,  the  people  of 
the  country  feel,  that  there  is  no  man  to  whom  its  true 
friends  are  more  indebted  than  to  him,  for  his  fearless  course 
in  stemming  the  torrent  of  fanaticism  and  disunion.  When 
the  Abolitionists  raised  the  '  Black  Flag3  of  treason  in  the 
North,  and  the  decree  went  forth  from  the  immediate  friends 
and  abettors  of  the  Yan  Burens,  that  every  man  in  the  State 
of  New  York  who  did  not  join  with  them  in  their  insane 
attempts  to  tear  down  the  constitution  of  the  country,  and 
trample  its  sanctions  and  compromises  in  the  dust,  in  order 
to  invade  the  constitutionally  guaranteed  rights  of  the  South, 
should  be  tabooed  and  turned  over  to  the  mercies  of  the 
political  guillotine,  Mr.  D.  threw  himself  into  the  van  of  the 
opposition  and  dared  to  beard  the  lion  in  his  den  ;  and  pro- 
claimed in  stern  and  patriotic  tones  of  defiance,  that  for  him- 
self, '  he  knew  no  North,  no  South,  no  East  and  no  West — 
nothing  but  his  country.' " 

One  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Dublin  Nation,"  while 
travelling  in  this  country,  gave  the  subjoined  sketch 
of  Mr.  Dickinson,  as  he  found  him  in  an  American 
court : 

"  I  learned  that  a  court  of  assize  was  sitting  just  then  in 
the  town  ;  I  was  quite  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  seeing  for 
myself  a  sight  supposed  to  be  such  a  compound  of  the  farce 
and  the  row,  '  an  American  court  of  justice  in  the  rural  dis- 


140  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

!« 

tricts.'  I  found  out  the  courthouse  ;  a  dilapidated  old 
building,  crowning  the  rising  ground  at  one  end  of  the  prin- 
cipal street.  I  entered  the  hall.  On  one  side  a  rickety 
door,  with  a  half  moon  grating  near  the  top,  marked  the 
apartment  (about  twelve  feet  by  fifteen),  which  served  as 
the  district  jail.  It  was  strong  enough,  probably,  to  be  any 
barrier  to  the  liberty  of  a  lame  ewe  ;  yet  it  was  large 
enough  and  strong  enough  for  the  requirements  of  the  local- 
ity !  I  ascended  the  stairs,  and,  pushing  open  a  door  on  the 
first  landing,  I.  found  myself  in  '  court.'  Accuse  me  not,  oh 
hilarious  reader,  if  I  herein  depart  from  all  precedent  and 
prefer  not  fun  to  fact ;  if  I  declare  that  I  saw  no  revolvers, 
no  bowie  knives,  heard  neither  cursing  nor  squabbling  ;  pos- 
sibly these  are  to  be  seen,  and  I  may  see  them  ere  I  return 
to  Ireland — but  here,  at  least,  I  declare,  that  I  saw  gravity 
and  dignity  on  the  bench  and  at  the  bar  ;  order  and  deco- 
rum in  the  audience.  The  latter  I  attribute  to  the  circum- 
stance that  there  were  no  policemen  to  disturb  the  quiet  of 
the  place,  by  perpetually  bawling  out  '  silence  !' — an  intol- 
erable nuisance  which  we  have  to  endure.  The  room  was 
about  thirty  feet  square  and  fifteen  in  height.  At  the  end 
opposite  the  entrance  was  the  bench  ;  in  the  middle  of  the 
apartment  an  oval  shaped  space  was  railed  off  on  the  floor  ; 
one  end  reaching  to  the  desk  (immediately  under  the  bench), 
at  which  sat  the  county  clerk  and  the  sheriff.  The  oval 
space  was  alloted  to  the  professors  of  the  law.  On  each 
side,  rising  gradually  to  the  rear,  were  rows  of  seats,  or 
rather  pews,  for  the  auditors.  The  jury  sat  in  one  of  these 
'  pews,'  immediately  on  the  left  of  the  judge.  Two  large 
stoves,  whose  flue-pipes  cut  sundry  capers  in  the  air — with 
the  laudable  intention  of  giving  us  all  the  benefit  possible  of 
the  heat  they  contained — kept  the  place  comfortably  warm. 
Occasionally  the  high  sheriff  would  walk  quietly  down  to 
one  of  the  stoves,  open  the  door,  poke  up  the  fire,  and  put 
in  a  fresh  log.  Accustomed  from  childhood  to  associate  so 


DANIEL   8.  DICKINSON.  141 

a 

largely  the  judicial  functions  with  a  horse-hair  wig,  and  a 
black  silk  gown — indeed,  rather  inclined  to  think  that  these 
constituted  the  judge,  and  that  without  them  there  could 
be  no  law  in  the  land,  it  seemed  hard  to  believe  that  the 
gentleman  on  the  bench  before  me,  in  civilian  costume,  could 

be  a  real  genuine  judge  and  no  mistake. 

"  Yet  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  in  the  same  official 
position  more  dignified  demeanor.  I  never  saw  a  judge 
listened  to  with  more  deference,  and  treated  with  more  res- 
pect than  in  this  instance,  in  this  same  village  court,  in  the 
'wilds'  of  western  New  York,  though  Judge  Balcom  wears 
his  own  hair — black  as  Morven's — and  came  to  court  without 
the  blowing  of  even  so  much  as  a  penny  whistle. 

********* 

"  Seated  within  the  railed  space — his  arms  folded  on  his 
breast,  his  face  raised  upward  in  attentive  listening  attitude 
— was  a  man  who  instantly  struck  me  as  being  singular 
among  the  throng  around  him.  He  might  be  sixty  years  of 
age  ;  a  powerfully  built  frame  and  expansive  chest  gave  indi- 
cation of  physical  strength  and  energy  ;  but  it  was  the  face 
that  impressed  me.  It  was  one  of  those  that  Rembrandt 
loved  to  paint ;  the  grave  serenity  of  strength  in  repose  ;  the 
warm  glow  of  life's  autumn  evening  upon  a  countenance 
expressive  of  quiet  dignity  and  intellectual  power.  The  spa- 
cious dome  of  a  massive  head  was  covered  with  silvery — nay, 
gnow-white  hair,  lending  a  venerable,  though  not  an  aged, 
aspect  to  the  man.  He  was  very  plainly  dressed  ;  the  blue 
cloth  body-coat,  with  brass  buttons,  was  perfectly  American  ; 
the  large  high  shirt-collar  standing  out  from  the  lower  part 
of  a  face  entirely  shaven  ;  and  a  black  silk  neckerchief, 
loosely  fastened  around  in  the  very  carelessness  of  effect  or 
appearance,  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  simplicity  of  his 
tout  ensemble.  This  was  the  Honorable  D.  S.  Dickinson, 
the  contemporary  in  politics  of  Webster,  who  found  in  him,  in 
many  a  passage  of  arms,  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel.  For 


142  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

some  years  Mr.  Dickinson  has  remained  in  retirement  from 
active  public  life,  notwithstanding  many  efforts  to  induce  him 
to  reenter  the  arena.  Yet  it  is  shrewdly  suspected  that  his 
counsel  is  not  seldom  sought  and  acted  upon  by  the  great 
ones  of  that  party  of  which  he  once  was  so  active  and  able  a 
leader." 

We  now  proceed  to  make  a  few  extracts  from  Mr. 
Dickinson's  public  speeches.  Here  is  an  extract 
upon  disunion : 

"  The  spirit  of  sectional  hate,  which  is  now  inculcated  by 
the  votaries  of  a  corrupt  and  stultified  Abolitionism,  by 
bigots,  zealots,  fanatics  and  demagogues  ;  in  desecrated  pul- 
pits, in  ribald  songs,  in  incendiary  presses  and  strife  stirring 
orators,  has  already  promoted  a  feeling  of  irritation  which 
should  fill  the  patriotic  mind  with  apprehension  and  alarm. 
No  feud  is  so  bitter  as  that  which  exists  between  brethren 
— no  persecution  so  relentless  as  that  which  pursues  an 
estranged  friend — no  war  so  ruthless  as  one  of  domestic 
strife  ;  and  yet  this  evil  genius,  disguised  with  the  garb  of 
superior  sanctity — the  blear-eyed  miscreant  disunion — is  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  earth  like  Satan  loosed  from  his  bon- 
dage of  a  thousand  years,  endeavoring  to  array  one  section 
of  the  Union  against  the  other  upon  a  question  which  was 
wisely  disposed  of  by  those  who  laid  the  broad  and  deep 
foundations  of  our  government. 

"  With  one  hand  it  essays  to  tear  out  from  the  Constitu- 
tion the  pages  upon  which  are  written  its  holiest  guaranties, 
and  with  the  other,  it  seeks  to  erase  from  our  nation's  flag 
fifteen  of  the  stars  which  help  to  compose  the  pride  and  hope 
and  joy  of  every  American.  It  would,  in  pursuit  of  its 
miserable  and  accursed  abstractions,  array  man  against  man, 
brother  against  brother,  and  State  against  State,  until  it 
covered  our  fair  land  with  anarchy  and  blood,  and  filled  it 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  143 

with  mourning  and  lamentation  ;  until  every  field  should  be 
a  field  of  battle,  every  hill-side  drenched  in  blood,  every  plain 
a  Golgotha,  every  valley  a  valley  of  dry  bones  ;  until  fire 
should  blast  every  field,  consume  every  dwelling,  destroy 
every  temple,  and  leave  every  town  black  with  ashes  and 
desolation  ;  until  this  fiendish  spirit,  compounding  all  the 
elements  of  fury  and  horror,  would  sweep  over  this  fair  and 
fertile  portion  of  God's  heritage,  like  the  infuriated  Hyder 
Ali  on  the  Carnatic,  leaving  it  one  everlasting  monument  of 
barbarous  vengeance." 

In  anticipation  of  the  acquisition  of  territory  from 
Mexico,  on  account  of  the  Mexican  war,  the  famous 
"Wilmot  proviso  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
at  the  heel  of  the  session  in  1846.  As  an  antidote 
for  the  proviso,  Mr.  Dickinson  introduced  the  follow- 
ing resolves  into  the  Senate,  Dec.  14,  1847 : 

"  Resolved,  That  true  policy  requires  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  to  strengthen  its  political  and  commercial 
relations  upon  this  continent  by  the  annexation  of  such  con- 
tiguous territory  as  may  conduce  to  that  end,  and  can  be 
justly  obtained  ;  and  that  neither  in  such  acquisition  nor  in 
the  territorial  organization  thereof,  can  any  conditions  be 
constitutionally  imposed,  or  institutions  be  provided  for  or 
established,  inconsistent  with  the  right  of  the  people  thereof, 
to  form  a  free,  sovereign  State,  with  the  powers  and  privileges 
of  the  original  members  of  the  confederacy. 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  organizing  a  territorial  government 
for  territory  belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  principles  of 
self-government  upon  which  our  federative  system  rests  wHl 
be  best  promoted,  the  true  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  Con- 
stitution be  observed,  and  the  Confederacy  strengthened,  by 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

leaving  all  questions  concerning  the  domestic  policy  therein 
to  the  legislatures  chosen  by  the  people  thereof." 

In  a  speech  of  power,  delivered  in  the  Senate  Jan. 
15,  1848,  he  tried  to  demonstrate  the  correctness  of 
the  principle  of  these  resolves.  From  this,  the  first 
speech  made  during  the  slavery  controversy  in  favor 
of  congressional  non-intervention  with  slavery  in  the 
territories,  we  make  the  following  extracts : 

"  The  Republican  theory  teaches  that  sovereignty  resides 
with  the  people  of  a  State,  and  not  with  its  political  organi- 
zation ;  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  recognizes  the 
right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  and  reconstruct  their 
government.  If  sovereignty  resides  with  the  people  and  not 
with  the  organization,  it  rests  as  well  with  the  people  of  a 
territory,  in  all  that  concerns  their  internal  condition,  as 
with  the  people  of  an  organized  State.  And  if  it  is  the 
right  of  the  people,  by  virtue  of  their  innate  sovereignty,  to 
1  alter  or  abolish,'  and  reconstruct  their  government,  it  is  the 
right  of  the  inhabitants  of  territories,  by  virtue  of  the 
same  attribute,  in  all  that  appertains  to  their  domestic  con- 
cerns, to  fashion  one  suited  to  their  condition.  And  if,  in 
this  respect,  a  form  of  government  is  proposed  to  them  by 
the  Federal  Government,  and  adopted  or  acquiesced  in  by 
them,  they  may  afterward  alter  or  abolish  it  at  pleasure. 
Although  the  government  of  a  territory  has  not  the  same 
sovereign  power  as  the  government  of  a  State  in  its  political 
relations,  the  people  of  a  territory  have,  in  all  that  apper- 
tains to  their  internal  condition,  the  same  sovereign  rights  as 
the  people  of  a  State.  .  .  . 

• "  That  system  of  government,  whether  temporary  or  per- 
manent, whether  applied  to  States,  provinces,  or  territories,  is 
radically  wrong,  and  has  within  itself  all  the  elements  of  mon- 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  14:5 

archical  oppression,  which  permits  the  representatives  of  one 
community  to  legislate  for  the  domestic  regulation  of  another 
to  which  they  are  not  responsible,  which  practically  allows 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  sther  Atlantic  States,  to 
give  local  laws  to  the  people  of  Oregon,  Minnesota  and  Ne- 
braska, to  whom  and  whose  interests,  wishes  and  condition, 
they  are  strangers." 

The  following  extracts  from  a  campaign  speecli  in 
1856,  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  will  give  the  reader  some  idea 
of  his  wit  and  power  before  an  out-door  audience. 
He  is  speaking  of  the  Pennsylvania  election : 

"  In  Pennsylvania  every  ill-omened  bird  in  the  nation  had 
gathered  and  croaked.  Every  device  that  those  bent  on  evil 
could  conceive  had  been  resorted  to.  Money  had  been  spent 
with  a  lavish  hand.  All  this  had  been  done  in  order  to  in- 
duce the  people  of  that  State  to  favor  the  doctrines  of  the  so- 
called  Republican  party.  How  well  had  she  stood  the  test 
in  the  last  great  fight!  There,  fanaticism  had  been  rebuked, 
hypocrisy  had  been  unmasked,  and  villainy  discomfited.  The 
Democratic  candidates  had  been  placed  in  the  field,  and  that 
being  the  home  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  Republicans  had 
strained  every  nerve  to  defeat  him  there.  But  how  gallantly 
had  old  Pennsylvania  come  up  to  the  work — how  glorious 
the  result!  How  had  they  tried  and  judged  that  party — 
that  political  mermaid — half-colored  woman  and  half-scaly 
fish!  The  result  reminded  him  of  a  conference  between  Mrs. 
Jones  and  Mrs.  Smith.  Mrs.  Jones,  calling  on  Mrs.  Smith, 
said,  '  Why,  haven't  you  finished  your  washing  yet  ?'  To 
which  Mrs.  Smith  replied,  'Oh!  no,  dear,  we  have  a  very 
great  washing;  it  takes  us  a  whole  week  to  do  our  washing, 
and  I  don't  think  we  can  get  it  done  in  a  week!'  'But, 
said  Mrs.  Jones,  '  you  haven't  a  great  many  clothes-lines,  and 
they  are  not  very  long,  and  you  don't  seem  to  hang-  out  any 


146  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

t 

more  clothes  than  other  people.'  'Oh,  no,'  replied  Mra 
Smith;  'but  then  you  know  what  we  hang  out  is  a  very 
small  portion  of  what  we  wash.'  So  it  was  with  the  Repub- 
licans of  Pennsylvania.  What  they  hung  out  on  election  day 
was  in  miserable  proportion  to  the  amount  of  washing  they 
had  done.  Proceeding,  he  said  that  the  Democrats  had 
hung  out  their  banners — their  principles  were  those  of  the 
Constitution,  and  their  candidates  were  upon  them.  The 
Republicans,  on  the  contrary,  had  but  few  principles,  and 
scarcely  any  candidates.  The  Democratic  candidates  repre- 
sented the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party.  And  now  of 
the  general  issue  between  the  parties. 

"What  a  spectacle!  A  slavery  more  base  and  abject 
than  any  African  slavery  that  was  ever  dreamed  of;  an 
enslavement  of  white  men,  in  order  that  their  leaders  may 
war  against  their  brethren.  How  they  would  make  up  their 
dividend  of  profits  he  could  not  see.  Their  case  would  be 
similar  to  that  of  the  man  who  thought  he  was  going  to  get 
a  great  deal  of  money  by  his  wife.  She  had  often  told  him 
that  when  her  father  died,  she  would  have  considerable  com- 
ing to  her.  Well,  the  old  man  died,  and  it  turned  out  that 
he  had  left  $9,000  and  ten  children.  The  husband  tried  to 
figure  it  up.  He  said,  10  from  9  you  can't.  He  tried  it 
again  and  said,  10  from  9  you  can't.  Turning  to  his  wife, 
and  greatly  perplexed,  he  said,  '  you  told  me  that  when  the 
old  man  died,  you  would  have  something  coming  to  you.' 
His  wife  replied  that  she  had — that  she  had  always  under- 
stood her  father  had  $9,000.  'So  he  has,'  says  the  hus- 
band; 'but  then  he's  got  ten  children — and  10  from  9  you 

can't.     We  won't  get  a  d d  cent.'     So  it  would  be  with 

the  Republicans.  They  had  resorted  to  political  huckstering, 
such  as  had  never  before  been  heard  of.  They  had  run  through 
every  issue,  and  had  talked  thread-bare  every  principle. 
Kansas  was  now  their  great  hobby.  They  said  they  did  not 
care  so  much  about  other  issues.  But  Kansas — bleeding 


DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON.  14:7 

Kansas,  absorbed  their  very  souls.  Kansas  was  to  them 
what  ale  was  to  Boniface — it  was  meat,  drink,  washing 
and  lodging.  Now,  though  Kansas  was  an  important  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  he  did  not  think  that  it  was  worth  while 
to  upset  the  Government,  whether  slavery  went  there  or  not. 
The  Democracy  were  willing  to  leave  that  question  entirely 
with  the  people  of  that  country.  They  had  no  fear  from 
slavery  there,  even  if  it  had  all  the  evils  pictured  by  the 
fanatics.  New  York  could  have  slavery  if  it  wished,  so  could 
all  the  other  States,  and  all  the  Democracy  wanted  was  that 
the  people  should  do  as  they  liked  in  the  question,  whether 
slavery  should  be  there  or  no. 

"  In  any  event,  slavery  was  not  so  bad  or  so  baneful  in  its 
influences  as  the  trickery  that  had  been  resorted  to  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  by  the  so-called  Republicans.  But,  Kansas, 
bleeding  Kansas,  they  cry  continually.  Why,  they  had  run 
poor,  bleeding  Kansas  until  it  was  as  dry  as  a  turnip.  It  was 
to  them  what  the  lamp  was  to  Aladdin.  When  he  wanted 
to  raise  the  wind,  he  rubbed  his  lamp,  and  when  the  Repub- 
licans wanted  blood,  they  cried  '  bleeding  Kansas.'  Kansas, 
to  them,  was  like  the  Yankee's  clock,  that  would  strike 
whenever  he  told  it  to  do  so.  But  one  day  he  told  it  to 
strike,  and  it  didn't ;  he  told  it  again,  but  still  no  strike. 
Finally,  a  voice  was  heard  from  behind  the  clock,  saying,  '  I 
can't  strike — the  string's  broke.'  To  this  pass  has  it  come 
at  length  with  the  Republicans  and  their  poor  'bleeding 
Kansas.'  When  they  call  for  blood,  the  answer  comes,  '  The 
string's  broke.' " 

In  a  territorial  speech,  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
January  12,  1848,  Mr.  Dickinson  said : 

"  Our  form  of  government  is  admirably  adapted  to  extend 
empire.  Founded  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the 
people,  and  deriving  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 


148  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

governed,  its  influences  are  as  powerful  for  good  at  the  re- 
motest limits  as  at  the  political  centre. 

"  We  are  unlike  all  communities  which  have  gone  before 
us,  and  illustrations  drawn  from  comparing  us  with  them,  are 
unjust  and  erroneous.  The  social  order  which  characterizes 
our  system  is  as  unlike  the  military  republics  of  other  times, 
as  is  the  religion  of  the  Saviour  of  men  to  the  impositions  of 
Mahomet.  Our  system  wins  by  its  justice,  while  theirs 
sought  to  terrify  by  its  power.  Our  territorial  boundary 
may  span  the  continent,  our  population  be  quadrupled,  and 
the  number  of  our  States  be  doubled,  without  inconvenience 
or  danger.  Every  member  of  the  Confederacy  would  well 
sustain  itself,  and  contribute  its  influences  for  the  general 
good;  every  pillar  would  stand  erect,  and  impart  strength 
and  beauty  to  the  edifice.  In  matters  of  national  legislation, 
a  numerous  population,  extended  territory,  and  diversified 
interests,  would  tend  to  reform  abuses  which  would  otherwise 
remain  unredressed,  to  preserve  the  rights  of  the  States,  and 
to  bring  back  the  course  of  legislation  from  the  centralism  to 
which  it  is  hastening.  One-half  the  legislation  now  brought 
before  Congress  would  be  left  undone,  as  it  should  be;  a  large 
portion  of  the  residue  would  be  presented  to  the  considera- 
tion of  State  legislatures,  and  Congress  would  be  enabled  to 
dispose  of  all  matters  within  the  scope  of  its  legitimate  func- 
tions without  inconvenience  or  delay. 

"  The  present  political  relations  of  this  continent  cannot 
long  continue,  and  it  becomes  this  nation  to  be  prepared  for 
the  change  which  awaits  it.  If  the  subjects  of  the  British 
crown  shall  consent  to  be  ruled  through  all  tune  by  a  distant 
cabinet,  Mexico  cannot  long  exist  under  the  misrule  of  ma- 
rauders and  their  pronunciamentos,  and  this  was  as  clearly 
apparent  before  as  since  the  existence  of  the  war.  If,  then, 
just  acquisition  is  the  true  policy  of  this  Government,  as  it 
clearly  is,  it  should  be  pursued  by  a  steady  and  unyielding 
purpose,  and  characterized  by  the  sternest  principles  of  na- 


DANIEL   S.    DICKINSON.  149 

tional  justice.  It  should  not  rashly  anticipate  the  great 
results  which  are  in  progress,  nor  thrust  aside  the  fruits  when 
they  are  produced  and  presented.  The  national  existence  of 
Mexico  is  hi  her  own  keeping,  but  is  more  endangered  at  this 
time  by  her  own  imbecility  and  stubbornness — her  national 
ignorance  and  brutality — than  from  the  war  we  are  prosecut- 
ing and  all  its  consequences.  She  has  been  hastening  to  ruin 
for  years  upon  the  flood-tide  of  profligacy  and  corruption  ; 
and  if  she  is  now  rescued,  and  her  downfall  arrested  and 
postponed  for  a  season,  it  may  justly  be  attributed  to  the 
salutary  influences  of  the  chastisement  she  has  received." 

These  general  ideas  upon  the  subject  of  territorial 
acquisition  will  indicate  Mr.  Dickinson's  views  upon 
the  Cuban  and  Mexican  questions  of  to-day. 


JOHN    BELL. 

JOHN  BELL  is  a  man  of  the  old  school  in  politics, 
an  ancient  southern  Whig,  who  has  preserved  his 
whiggery  intact,  and  has  not  been  swallowed  up  in  the 
Democratic  party,  but  has  rather  sympathized  to  a 
great  extent  with  the  party  in  the  North  which  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  Whig  organization — the 
Republican  party.  Coming  from  a  slave  State,  and 
himself  a  slaveholder,  of  course  Mr.  Bell  does  not 
belong  to  the  Republican  organization.  He  could 
not  well  do  so  without  occupying  an  anti-slavery  at- 
titude in  Tennessee.  But  he  has  acted  in  concert 
with  the  Republicans  on  most  issues  in  Congress, 
and  upon  many  of  the  issues  which  slavery  has 
raised,  he  has  taken  sides  with  the  North.  In  this 
manner  he  has  gained  the  respect  of  his  colleagues 
who  go  further  than  he  does  in  opposition  to  slavery. 

John  Bell  is  an  honest,  upright  man,  and  has  been 
for  years  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  U.  S.  Sen- 
ate. He  has  evinced  the  highest  courage  in  taking  his 
stand  against  measures  which  were  either  proposed 
by  politicians  from  his  own  section  of  the  country, 
or  were  expected  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  that  sec- 

150 


JOHN   BELL.  151 

tion.  He  came  out  boldly  against  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act, 
although  in  doing  so  he  exposed  himself  at  home, 
among  his  constituents,  to  the  raking  fire  of  his  political 
enemies.  He  also  opposed  with  great  eloquence  and 
vigor  the  Lecompton  bill.  For  a  southern  senator 
to  do  these  things  requires  pluck  as  well  as  principle, 
and  we  may  be  sure  that  John  Bell  lacks  neither. 
His  enemies  will  give  him  credit  for  both. 

In  his  personal  appearance  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Bell 
is  noticeable.  Though  his  hair  is  grey,  the  fire  of 
his  eye  is  undimmed,  and  the  freshness  of  his  coun- 
tenance is  youthful.  Few  men  in  the  Senate  speak 
so  vigorously  as  he.  His  voice  is  sonorous  and  loud, 
and  the  energy  of  his  tone,  his  style,  and  his  gesticu- 
lation remind  one  of  an  orator  of  thirty.  We  re- 
member very  well  how  during  the  Lecompton  de- 
bate in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Johnson,  Bell's  Democratic 
colleague,  was  replying  with  great  severity  to  his 
speech  against  the  Lecompton  bill.  A  portion  of  his 
remarks  were  very  personal,  and  must  have  some- 
what irritated  the  brave  old  senator.  Johnson  was 
fresh  from  the  stump,  and  its  phrases  and  language 
were  so  beaten  into  his  mind  that  he  could  not  shake 
them  off.  So,  frequently  in  the  course  of  his  speech 
in  alluding  to  Mr.  Bell,  instead  of  saying  "  my  col- 
league," he  said  "  my  competitor."  This  was  done 
several  times,  when  Mr.  Bell  half-rose  in  his  seat,  his 


152  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

face  flushed  red  with  his  indignation,  and  hurled  out 
at  his  colleague,  "  Competitor  !  1  am  not  the  gentle- 
man's competitor!"  No  one  who  witnessed  the 
scene  will  ever  forget  it.  The  Senate  was  convulsed 
with  laughter. 

Mr.  Bell  was  born  near  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in 
February,  1797 ;  his  father  being  a  farmer  in  moder- 
ate circumstances.     He — the  son — was  educated  at 
what  is  now  Nashville  University — afterward  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1816.     He  then 
settled  down  in  Franklin,   Tennessee,  from  which 
place  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  in  1817,  he 
then  being  but  twenty  years  old.     During  the  next 
nine  years  he  forsook  politics  and  confined  himself 
to  his  profession,  but  in  1826  he  ran  for  Congress, 
in  opposition  to  Felix  Grundy.     He  had  the   sup- 
port of  General  Jackson,   and  triumphed    by   one 
thousand    majority.      The   canvass    was   long    and 
exciting,  and  Mr.  Bell  was  justly  proud  of  his  vic- 
tory.    For  fourteen  consecutive  years  he  remained 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  from  this  district. 
"When  first  elected  he  was  a  follower  of  Calhoun  and 
an  opponent  of  a  Protective  Tariff.     He  afterward, 
by   reading   and    argument,   saw  fit  to  change  his 
position  in  this  respect,  and  has  long  been  known  as 
an  advocate   of  the  old  Whig  tenets — a  high  tariff, 
internal  improvements,  etc.  etc.     He   was  for  ten 
years  in  the  House,  chairman  of  the  committee  on 


JOHN   BELL.  153 

Indian  Affairs,  was  once  chairman  of  the  Judiciary 
committee.  The  breach  between  himself  and  Jack- 
son was  on  the  question  of  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits, and  the  result  was  that  Mr.  Bell  went  over  to 
the  Whigs.  In  1834,  he  was  made  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  his  opponent  being  James 
K.  Polk.  The  "Whigs  and  a  wing  of  the  Democrats 
who  disliked  Yan  Buren  voted  for  Mr.  Bell,  and 
elected  him.  Mr.  Bell  opposed  Mr.  Van  Buren  for 
removing  men  from  office  on  acconnt  of  their  politics, 
and  he  made  a  strong  speech  in  the  House  against 
this  policy.  He  refused  to  support  Yan  Buren  for 
the  presidency  and  went  in  for  Judge  White,  who 
carried  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Bell  was  after- 
ward reflected  to  Congress  from  the  Hermitage  dis- 
trict, showing  that  the  people  even  in  Jackson's  dis- 
trict supported  him  in  the  position  he  had  taken. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  he  had  the  courage  to  vote 
in  favor  of  receiving  anti-slavery  politicians,  when 
many  northern  politicians  voted  to  strike  down  this 
right  of  the  people  under  the  most  despotic  forms  of 
government.  He  also  voted  against  Atherton's 
famous  Gag  Resolutions.  In  1841,  Gen.  Harrison 
made  him  Secretary  of  War,  but  he  resigned  when 
Tyler  came  into  power.  He  was  soon  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  where  he  remained  till  March 
4th,  1859. 

Mr.  Bell  supported  the  compromise  measures  of 

Y* 


154  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

1850 — was  opposed  to  the  annexation  of  Texas — and, 
as  we  have  remarked,  opposed  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
act  and  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  He  is  opposed 
to  the  taking  of  Cuba  or  buying  it  at  an  extrava- 
gant price — opposes  all  kinds  of  filibustering.  "We 
make  a  few  extracts  from  Mr.  Bell's  great  speech 
against  the  Lecompton  bill.  Upon  Popular  Sove- 
reignty he  thus  expressed  himself : 

"  What  is  the  true  doctrine  on  this  subject  ?  I  had  sup- 
posed that  there  could  be  no  disagreement  as  to  the  true 
principles  connected  with  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  people 
in  forming  a  State  Constitution  ;  but  since  I  have  heard  the 
speech  of  the  senator  from  Georgia,  I  do  not  know  what 
principle  he  agrees  to.  I  say  that  in  no  disrespect  ;  but  I 
thought  he  was  particularly  wild,  shooting  extra  flammantia, 
mcenia  mundi,  on  those  high  points  of  doctrine  which  he,  in 
some  parts  of  his  speech,  thought  proper  to  enunciate.  Does 
any  person  here  deny  the  proposition,  that  the  people  of  a 
territory,  in  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution,  are  to 
that  extent — quoad  hoc — sovereign  and  uncontrollable,  though 
still  owing  obedience  to  the  provisional  government  of  the 
territory?  "^111  any  senator  contend  that  the  territorial 
legislature  can  either  give  to  the  people  any  power  over  that 
subject  which  they  did  not  possess  before,  or  withhold  from 
them  any  which  they  did  possess  ?  The  territorial  legisla- 
ture cannot  dictate  any  one  provision  of  the  constitution 
which  the  people  think  proper  to  form.  Who  is  prepared  to 
contend  that  Congress  can  do  anything  more  in  this  respect 
than  a  territorial  legislature  ?  It  is  usual  for  the  territorial 
legislature,  when  the  people  desire  to  apply  for  admission 
into  the  Union,  in  the  absence  of  an  enabling  act  of  Con- 
gress, to  pass  a  law  providing  for  the  assembling  of  a  con- 


JOHN    BELL.  •  155 

vention  to  form  a  State  Constitution.  But  that  is  a  mere 
usage,  resorted  to  when  Congress  has  not  thought  proper  to 
pass  what  is  called  an  enabling  act.  What  is  an  enabling 
act  ?  Nothing  more  than  to  signify  to  the  people  of  a  ter- 
ritory, that,  if  they  shall  think  proper  to  meet  in  convention 
and  form  a  State  Constitution,  in  compliance  with  certain 
forms  therein  prescribed,  to  insure  a  fair  expression  of  the 
people's  will,  Congress  is  prepared  to  admit  them  into  the 
Union  as  a  State. 

"  But  such  an  act  gives  no  more  power  to  the  people  over 
the  subject  of  a  constitution  than  an  act  of  a  territorial  legis- 
lature. But,  suppose  the  people,  either  under  an  act  of  the 
territorial  legislature  or  of  Congress,  meet  in  convention,  by 
delegates  chosen  by  the  people,  and  form  a  constitution,  what 
then  ?  Has  it  any  vitality  as  a  constitution  ?  Does  it  trans- 
form the  territory  into  a  State  ?  Has  it  any  binding  force 
or  effect,  'either  upon  individuals  or  upon  the  community  ? 
Nobody  pretends  that  it  has  any  such  force.  It  is  only  after 
the  acceptance  of  the  constitution,  and  the  admission  of  the 
territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  that  there  is  any  vigor 
or  validity  in  a  constitution  so  formed.  Before  that  tune,  it 
is  worth  no  more  than  the  parchment  on  which  its  provisions 
are  written,  so  far  as  any  legal  or  constitutional  validity  is 
concerned. 

"  But,  upon  principle,  the  people  of  a  territory,  without 
any  act  of  the  territorial  legislature,  without  an  enabling  act 
of  Congress,  can  hold  public  meetings  and  elect  delegates  to 
meet  in  convention  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  constitution  ; 
and  when  formed,  it  has  all  the  essential  attributes  of  a  valid 
constitution,  as  one  formed  in  any  other  way.  Many  sena- 
tors contend  that  it  is  the  inalienable  and  indefeasible  right 
of  the  people  of  a  State  at  all  times  to  change  their  constitu- 
tion in  any  manner  they  think  proper.  This  doctrine  I  do 
not  admit,  in  regard  to  the  people  of  a  State  ;  but,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  formation  of  a  constitution  by  the  people  of  a 


156 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 


territory,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  soundness  of  this 
doctrine.  They  can  form  a  constitution  by  delegates  volun- 
tarily chosen  and  sent  to  a  convention,  but  what  is  it  worth 
when  it  is  formed  ?  Nothing  at  all,  until  Congress  shall  ac- 
cept it  and  admit  the  territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State 
under  that  constitution.  It  is  worth  no  more  in  that  case 
than  in  the  case  of  a  constitution  formed  under  a  territorial 
act  or  an  act  of  Congress  ;  but  it  is  worth  just  as  much." 

Upon  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and 
the  effects  which  followed  the  act,  he  remarked : 

"  Four  years  ago,  when  it  was  proposed  to  repeal  the 
Missouri  Compromise — to  adopt  the  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention, and  concede  to  the  people  of  the  territories  the  right 
to  settle  the  question  of  slavery  hi  their  own  way — it  was 
said  by  the  advocates  of  the  measure,  that,  as  soon  as  the 
principles  of  it  came  to  be  understood,  all  agitation  and  dis- 
cussion upon  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  territories  would 
be  localized — excluded  from  Congress — and  the  country 
would  be  left  in  undisturbed  repose.  So  boldly  and  con- 
fidently were  these  views  maintained,  that  the  whole  southern 
delegation  in  Congress,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  with  seven  or 
eight  exceptions,  together  with  many  Democrats  from  the 
free  States,  came  into  the  support  of  the  measure.  How 
were  these  bold  predictions  verified  ?  In  less  than  one  month 
of  the  tune  during  which  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was  pend- 
ing in  Congress,  nearly  the  whole  North  was  in  a  flame  of 
resentment  and  opposition.  Old  men,  of  high  character  and 
great  influence,  who  had  for  twenty  years  opposed  the  policy 
and  designs  of  the  Abolition  faction  in  the  North,  suddenly 
became  its  allies  and  coadjutors.  Thousands  of  the  beet 
citizens  at  the  North,  who  had  exerted  all  their  energies  to 
repress  all  opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law  of  1850,  became  suddenly  converts  to  Free-Soilism.  The 


JOHN   BELL.  157 

religious  feelings  of  whole  communities  became  frenzied.  The 
pulpit  was  converted  into  an  engine  of  anti-slavery  propa- 
gandism,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  sober-minded  and 
conservative  people  at  the  North,  who  had  never  counte- 
nanced sectional  strife  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  evinced  that 
they  had  thrown  off  their  conservatism,  and  were  ready  to 
array  themselves  under  the  banner  of  any  party  leader  or 
faction,  to  check  the  progress  of  the  South  in  what  they 
considered  its  aggressive  policy. 

"  After  that  demonstration  of  opposition  at  the  North,  but 
little  more  was  said  in  debate  of  the  tranquillizing  character 
of  the  measure.  But  its  most  influential  supporters  from  the 
South,  becoming  inflamed  and  irritated  by  the  fierce  invec- 
tives with  which  the  measure  was  assailed,  both  within  and 
out  of  Congress,  became,  in  their  turn,  reckless  (apparently 
at  least)  of  all  consequences,  and  seemed  only  bent  on  vic- 
tory— on  obtaining  a  triumph  by  passing  the  bill  I  It  was 
in  vain  that  they  were  admonished  that  they  were  adding 
largely  to  the  abolition  faction  at  the  North  ;  that  they  were 
increasing  the  free-soil  element  of  political  power  in  that 
section.  They  admitted  no  distinction  between  Abolitionists 
and  Free-Soilers,  and  denounced  all  at  the  North  who  op- 
posed the  bill  as  Abolitionists  and  foes  to  the  South.  Some 
gentlemen  declared  that  the  screams  of  the  Abolitionists 
were  music  to  their  ears.  It  was  idle  to  warn  men  in  such  a 
tempest  of  passion,  that,  instead  of  sowing  the  seeds  of  peace, 
as  they  had  promised,  they  were  sowing  dragons'  teeth,  that 
would  spring  up  armed  men.  So  intense  did  the  feeling 
become  on  the  subject,  that  some  southern  members  of  Con- 
gress, who  had  gone  into  the  support  of  the  bill  on  the  idea 
that  the  Missouri  restriction  act  was  a  violation  of  the  treaty 
with  France,  and  who  would  not  have  listened  for  a  moment 
to  the  admission  of  aliens  to  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  ter- 
ritories, lost  sight  of  these  views  under  the  influence  of  the 
furor  that  was  gotten  up  among  the  friends  as  well  as  the 


158  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

opponents  of  the  measure  ;  and  they  became  even  more  de- 
termined champions  of  the  bill  when  these  grounds  of  their 
original  adhesion  were  entirely  swept  away — one  by  the  re- 
jection of  the  Clayton  amendment,  and  the  other  by  the 
Badger  proviso^-than  they  were  at  the  outset. 

"  There  were,  however,  a  few  of  the  supporters  of  the  bill 
who  to  the  last  contended  that  the  intemperate  demonstra- 
tions of  opposition  at  the  North  were  but  the  ebullitions  of 
temporary  excitement,  which  would  subside  as  soon  as  the 
equitable  and  just  principles  of  the  bill  should  be  exhibited  in 
their  practical  operation  in  Kansas.  On  what  flimsy  grounds 
that  delusion  was  indulged,  and  how  soon  and  under  what 
circumstances  it  vanished,  I  need  not  recount.  The  recollec- 
tion of  every  patriot  must  still  be  painfully  impressed  with 
them.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  soon  after  these  principles 
were  put  in  operation  in  Kansas,  disorder,  anarchy,  and  civil 
war,  ensued  in  rapid  succession.  It  required  the  strong  arm 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  the  interposition 
of  the  military  force  to  sustain  the  territorial  government ; 
and  even  now,  after  the  lapse  of  four  years,  we  still  find  that 
the  presence  of  a  military  force  is  necessary  to  maintain 
peace.  So  much  for  the  effect  of  that  measure  on  Kansas 
and  the  country.  How  has  it  been  in  Congress  ?  Need  I 
ask  that  question  ?  Has  not  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
territory  been  the  absorbing  subject  of  our  thoughts  and  dis- 
cussions at  every  session  of  Congress  since  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  act  ?  And  as  for  the  character  and  temper 
of  the  debates  upon  this  subject,  have  they  not,  in  asperity 
and  fierceness,  far  exceeded  those  of  any  antecedent  period 
of  our  history  ? 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  I  now  ask  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  effect  of 
the  experiment  of  localizing  slavery  agitation  in  the  territo- 
ries, made  in  1854,  in  changing  the  complexion  of  parties 
both  in  Congress  and  in  the  country.  In  the  Congress 


JOHN   BELL.  159 

which  passed  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  we  have  seen  that 
there  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  hi  December, 
1853,  a  Democratic  majority  of  eighty-four  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  only  four  Free-Soilers,  and  in  the  Senate 
a  like  number — so  small,  yet  so  distinct  in  their  princi- 
ples, that  neither  of  the  two  great  parties  then  known  to  the 
country  knew  well  how  to  arrange  them  on  committee. 

"  MR.  HALE.— You  left  them  off. 

"  MR.  BELL. — The  Whigs  were  afraid  to  touch  them.  Mr. 
Chase  was  a  Democrat,  and  was  so  recognized  by  his  breth- 
ren in  the  Senate,  and  was  taken  care  of  by  them  in  arrang- 
ing the  committees  ;  yet  he  was  one  of  the  gentlemen  whom 
I  have  designated  as  Free-Soilers.  Now,  let  us  see  what  was 
the  effect  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  on  the  elections  which 
ensued  in  the  fall  of  1854,  just  on  the  heels  of  the  adoption 
of  that  measure.  One  hundred  and  seven  Free-Soilers  were 
returned  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  instead  of  having  a  majority  of  eighty-four  in 
that  House,  found  itself  in  a  minority  of  seventy-six  ;  and  in 
the  Senate  the  number  of  Free-Soilers  was  increased  to  thir- 
teen. Such  was  the  complexion  of  the  two  houses  of  Con- 
gress in  the  33d  Congress,  which  assembled  in  December, 
1855.  Now,  we  find  in  the  Senate  twenty  Free-Soilers. 
How  many  more  they  may  have  in  the  next  Congress,  will 
depend  upon  the  disposition  we  make  of  the  question  now 
before  the  Senate.  I  call  upon  the  senator  from  Georgia  to 
say  whether  he  will  have  that  number  limited  or  not.  Does 
he  want  a  sufficient  number  to  prevent  the  ratification  of 
any  future  treaty  of  acquisition  ?  How  long  will  it  be 
before  we  have  that  number,  if  the  southern  Democracy  per- 
sist in  their  present  course  ?  They  would  seem  to  be  deeply 
interested  in  adding  to  the  power  of  the  Republican  party. 

"  I  consider  that  the  most  fearful  and  portentous  of  all  the 
results  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  was  to  create,  to  build 
up  a  great  sectional  party.  My  friend  from  Ohio,  who  sits 


160  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

near  me,  [Mr.  Wade]  must  allow  me  to  say,  that  I  regard 
his  party  as  a  sectional  one. 

"  MR.  WADE. — Is  not  the  other  side  a  sectional  party  ? 

"MR.  BELL. — So  far  as  they  are  confined  to  the  South 
they  are,  but  they  say  that  they  lap  over. 

"  MR.  WADE. — Lap  over  further  South  still. 

"  MR.  BELL. — I  consider  that  no  more  ominous  and  threat- 
ening cloud  can  darken  the  political  horizon  at  any  tune. 
How  formidable  this  party  has  already  become,  may  be  well 
illustrated  by  the  fact  that  its  representative  candidate,  Mr. 
Fremont,  was  only  beaten  in  the  last  Presidential  election 
by  the  most  desperate  efforts  ;  and  I  feel  warranted  in  say- 
ing, that  but  for  the  imminent  prospect  of  his  success,  which 
shone  out  near  the  close  of  the  canvass,  Mr.  Buchanan 
would  not  have  attained  his  present  high  position." 

From  these  extracts  the  reader  will  readily  per- 
ceive the  position  of  Mr.  Bell  upon  the  great  politi- 
cal question  of  the  day. 


JOHN  P.  HALE. 

JOHN  P.  HALE  comes  of  good  old  New  England 
stock.  His  ancestors  were  the  men  who  founded 
those  New  England  institutions  which  are  alike  the 
glory  of  that  section  of  the  country  and  the  whole 
nation.  The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Hale — Samuel  Hale 
— was  a  lawyer  of  ability  and  success,  and  he  edu- 
eated  his  son  John — father  of  the  present  Mr.  Hale 
— to  the  same  profession.  The  father  of  Mr.  Hale 
married  a  Miss  O'Brien,  daughter  of  Capt.  Jeremiah 
O'Brien.  Of  this  ancestor  Mr.  Hale  is  justly  proud. 
The  following  true  story  is  told  of  his  gallantry  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War : 

"When  the  news  of  the  struggle  with  the  mother 
country  reached  Machias,  in  Maine  (then  a  province 
of  Massachusetts),  on  the  9th  of  May,  1775,  an  armed 
British  schooner,  the  Margaretta,  was  lying  in  port, 
with  two  sloops  under  her  convoy,  loading  with  lum- 
ber in  behalf  of  the  king's  government.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  capture  the  officers  of  the  Margaretta 
while  they  were  at  church,  but  they  escaped  on  board, 
weighed  anchor,  and  dropped  down  the  river.  On 
the  llth,  a  party  of  thirty-five  volunteers  was  hastily 

161 


162  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

collected,  and,  taking  one  of  the  lumber  sloops,  they 
made  sail.  The  Margarita,  on  observing  their  ap- 
pearance, weighed  and  crowded  sail,  to  avoid  a  con- 
flict ;  the  sloop  proved  to  be  a  better  sailor.  As  she 
approached,  the  schooner  opened  a  fire  with  four 
light  guns  and  fourteen  swivels,  to  which  the  sloop 
replied  with  musketry,  and  soon  the  Americans 
boarded  and  captured  the  Margaretta.  The  loss  of 
life  in  this  affair  was  not  very  large,  though  twenty 
men  on  both  sides  are  said  to  have  been  killed  and 
wounded.  It  was  the  first  blow  struck  on  the  water 
in  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and  it  was  character- 
ized by  a  long  chase,  a  bloody  struggle,  and  a 
triumph. 

"  There  was  originally  no  commander  in  the  sloop, 
but  previously  to  engaging  the  Margaretta,  Jeremiah 
O'Brien  was  selected  for  that  station.  Transferring 
the  armament  to  a  sloop,  he  engaged  separately,  and 
captured  two  English  cruisers  sent  out  from  Halifax 
expressly  to  take  him,  and  carried  their  crews  as 
prisoners  to  "Watertown,  where  the  provincial  Legis- 
lature of  Massachusetts  was  assembled.  His  gallantry 
was  so  generally  admired,  that  he  was  appointed 
a  captain  in  the  marine  of  the  colony,  and  afterward 
distinguished  himself  as  a  continental  officer.  Two 
of  his  brothers,  uncles  of  Mrs.  John  P.  Hale,  senior, 
were  also  noted  for  their  nautical  bravery." 

Mr.  Hale,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  on 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  163 

the  31st  of  March,  1806,  at  Kocliester,  New  Hamp- 
shire. When  a  boy  he,  like  most  New  England 
boys,  attended  the  common  district  school  of  his 
neighborhood.  When  he  grew  up  to  be  a  young  man, 
he  was  sent  to  Phillips  Academy,  at  Exeter,  where 
the  well-known  Dr.  Abbott  also  educated  Daniel 
Webster,  Edward  Everett,  Lewis  Cass  and  other  dis- 
tinguished men.  In  September*  1823,  Mr.  Hale 
entered  Bowdoin  College,  and  graduated  with  high 
honors  in  1827.  Among  his  associates  in  college 
were  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  Franklin  Pierce,  Prof. 
Stone,  and  S.  S.  Prentiss.  In  1828,  Mr.  Hale 
selected  his  home,  the  town  of-  Dover,  where  he  now 
resides.  There  he  went  to  study  law  in  the  office  of 
D.  M.  Christie.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1830,  and  in  1834  his  clients  had  become  so  numer- 
ous that  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  partner.  He  was 
never  so  distinguished  as  a  l&w-student,  as  for  his 
popular  argument  with  a  jury.  His  forte  was  then, 
as  now,  in  appealing  directly  to  the  hearts  of  men. 
By  common  sense,  humor,  pathos  and  sarcasm  he  won 
his  cause.  Mr.  Hale  was,  we  presume,  a  little  more 
inclined  to  politics  than  to  law,  and  if  we  may  judge 
at  all  from  his  looks  to-day,  he  was  never  over-fond 
of  severe  application,  mental  or  physical,  to  labor. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Hale  was  elected  to  represent  Dover 
in  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature,  and  was  a 
staunch  Democrat.  In  1834,  General  Jackson  ap- 


164  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

pointed  him  U.  S.  Attorney  for  the  district  of  New 
Hampshire,  an  office  which  he  filled  creditably  to 
himself.  Mr.  Van  Buren  continued  him  in  this 
office,  and  he  filled  it  till  John  Tyler  removed  him. 
This  was  a  turning  point  in  his  history.  He  fell 
back  to  his  old  practice  of  the  law ;  but  in  1843,  he 
was  nominated  and  elected  to  Congress,  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  Housfe  of  Representatives.  A  struggle 
was  at  that  time  beginning  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  and  Mr.  Hale,  apparently  to  his  certain 
defeat  and  humiliation,  for  New  Hampshire  was 
then  overwhelmingly  Democratic,  took  side  with  the 
North  and  freedom.  He  was  renominated  for  Con- 
gress, but  soon  afterward  he  had  the  courage  to 
come  out  in  a  letter  denouncing  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  This,  as  a  matter  of  course,  brought  down 
upon  him  the  enmity  of  his  old  'companions.  The 
State  Democratic  Committee  called  a  new  conven- 
vention  in  his  district,  set  his  nomination  aside,  and 
nominated  John  Woodbury  in  his  place.  It  was  at 
this  juncture  that  Mr.  Hale  showed  his  nerve,  and  it  is 
said  that  his  spirited  wife  sustained  him  through  the 
campaign  with  a  courage  and  spirit  second  only  to 
his  own.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  after  an  arduous 
campaign,  Mr.  Hale  triumphed  so  far  as  to  prevent 
his  competitor  from  being  elected.  A  majority 
was  required  to  elect,  and  no  candidate  could  get 
that  majority.  The  next  year  Mr.  Hale  was  sent 


- 

JOHN   P.  HALE.  165 

again  to  the  State  Legislature  to  represent  the  town 
of  Dover,  and  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  He  presided  so  fairly  and  won 
so  much  upon  the  members,  that  before  the  adjourn- 
ment took  place,  the  Legislature  elected  Mr.  Hale  to 
represent  the  State,  in  part,  for  six  years  in  the 
United  States  Senate !  This  was  a  great  triumph. 
The  man  who  had  been  set  aside  for  his  faithfulness 
to  his  own  convictions  of  right,  by  party  managers, 
was  taken  up  by  the  State  at  large,  and  sent  to 
represent  New  Hampshire  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  His  new  position  was  an  extraordi- 
nary one.  He  was  about  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  backed  by  no  party,  utterly  alone,  sent  there 
for  his  individual  merits,  and  not  to  advance  the  in- 
terests of  any  party; 

A  writer  not  agreeing  or  sympathizing  with  Mr. 
Hale  in  his  peculiar  anti-slavery  views,  speaks  of 
this  period  of  Mr.  Hale's  history  in  the  following 
language : 

"When  Mr.  Hale  took  his  seat  he  was  almost 
alone,  and  had  to  combat,  single-handed,  the  political 
'  giants  in  those  days.'  Sometimes  he  was  met  with 
labored  arguments,  then  subjected  to  bitter  re- 
proaches ;  at  times  those  who  were  but  '  his  peers ' 
would  affect  almost  to  ignore  his  presence,  and  again 
they  would  mercilessly  denounce  him  as  advocating 
doctrines  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  Republic 


166  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

But  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  was  not  to  be 
intimidated  or  diverted  from  Avhat  he  considered  to 
be  his  duty.  Adopting  the  guerrilla  tactics,  he  man- 
fully held  his  ground,  and  with  felicitous  humor, 
pungent  retort,  or  keen  sarcasm,  made  an  impression 
upon  the  phalanx  against  which  he  had  to  contend. 
So  high  were  his  aims,  and  so  conciliating  were  his 
manners,  that  before  the  close  of  his  senatorial  term, 
Mr.  Hale  had  beaten  down  the  barriers  of  prejudice, 
and  fairly  conquered  sectional  discourtesy.  He  was 
thus  not  only  the  standard-bearer,  but  the  pioneer  of 
the  North  in  the  Senate." 

In  1853,  the  Democracy  were  in  the  ascendency 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  Mr.  Atherton  took  Mr. 
Hale's  seat  in  the  Senate.  Mr.  Hale  was  persuaded 
at  this  time  to  locate  himself  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  to  practise  his  profession.  Luckily,  he  did  not 
give  up  his  house  at  Dover,  his  family  remaining 
there,  and  he  paying  his  poll  tax  there. 

In  1855,  he  was  again  elected  to' serve  New  Hamp- 
shire for  an  unexpired  term ;  and  in  1859,  was  re- 
elected  for  another  whole  term  of  six  years.  The 
same  writer  from  whom  we  have  just  quoted,  remarks 
further : 

"  Senator  Hale  is  especially  attentive  to  his  consti- 
tuents, and  never  neglects  their  interests  for  practice 
in  the  Supreme  Court  or  other  private  business.  He 
is,  nevertheless,  ever  ready  to  address  public  assem- 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  167 

blages  on  subjects  in  which  he  takes  an  interest.  The 
sailors  will  never  forget  his  efforts  in  procuring  an 
abolition  of  flogging  in  the  United  States  navy,  in 
commemoration  of  which  they  presented  him  with  a 
gold  medal. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  Senator  Hale's  ca- 
reer up  to  the  present  time,  he  has  been  the  untiring 
advocate  of  whatever  he  viewed  as  powerful  for 
good,  as  calculated  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
man,  or  as  likely  to  advance  the  general  interests  of 
the  American  Union,  without  prejudice  to  the  rights 
of  the  section  which  he  represents.  He  has  ever 
firmly  refused  to  bow  before  counterfeited  images,  or 
to  scramble  for  place  in  the  arena  of  party,  but  he 
has  never  declined  to  assume  whatever  burden  of 
duty  his  friends  counselled  him  to  bear. 

"  In  person,  Senator  Hale  is  burly,  bluff-looking, 
with  a  clear  eye,  and  a  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand  for 
his  friends.  His  colloquial  powers  are  of  a  splendid 
order,  and  he  is  a  rare  humorist,  genial,  sunshiny  and 
kindly.  He  laughs  with  the  foibles  and  shortcomings 
of  the  world — not  at  them ;  and  his  laugh  is  pure 
and  silvery.  Married  in  early  life  to  Miss  Lucy  H. 
Lambert,  of  Berwick,  Maine  (a  lady  who  combines 
rare  attainments  of  mind,  beauties  of  character,  and 
personal  charms),  he  has  ever  found  his  highest  hap- 
piness in  his  own  domestic  circle,  which  is  now 
graced  by  two  accomplished  daughters,  just  budding 


168  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

into  womanhood.  An  evening  spent  with  this  es- 
timable family  is  an  event  to  be  remembered  with 
pleasure." 

Mr.  Hale  has  long  been  a  favorite  in  the  Senate 
with  men  of  all  parties.  Whenever  it  is  known 
beforehand  that  he  is  going  to  speak — no  matter 
what  the  subject  may  be — he  is  sure  to  gather  a 
crowded  audience.  He  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
men  in  the  country,  for  his  satire  has  never  a  spice 
of  cruelty  in  it.  His  jolly  humor,  everlasting  good 
nature,  and  natural  love  of  fair  play,  make  him 
friends  wherever  he  is,  no  matter  if  he  be  among 
his  bitterest  southern  enemies. 

To  gain  any  idea  of  the  change  which  has  taken 
place  in  the  Senate  since  Mr.  Hale  took  his  seat  in 
it,  we  must  remember  that  then  he  stood  up  alone 
the  champion  of  anti-slavery-— unless  we  make  an 
exception,  in  favor  of  Mr.  Seward — while  now  more 
than  twenty  Republican  senators  sit  with  him  on  the 
"opposition  benches."  To  get  a  faint  idea  of  the 
condition  of  the  Senate  when  Mr.  Hale  entered  it,  let 
us  go  back  to  the  20th  of  April,  1845.  The  famous 
Dray  ton  and  Soyers  slave  case  had  just  occurred, 
and  Dr.  Bailey  and  his  paper,  the  "National  Era," 
had  been  at  the  mercy  of  a  mob  for  three  days.  Mr. 
Hale  introduced  into  "the  Senate  a  bill  relating  to 
riots  and  unlawful  assemblages  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  We  will  abridge  the  debate  which  ensued  : 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  169 

Mr.  Foote,  of  Miss.,  made  a  very  long  speech  on  the 
general  subject  of  slavery,  and  especially  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  The  attempt  to  legislate 
indirectly — that  is,  to  sustain  freedom  of  discussion  in 
the  District — against  slavery,  was  an  outrage  upon 
the  rights  of  the  South.  If  any  man  gives  coun- 
tenance to  this  bill,  he  said,  I  pronounce  him  to  be 
no  gentleman — he  would,  upon  temptation,  be  guilty 
of  highway  robbery  on  any  of  the  roads  of  the  Union. 
He  charged  that  the  abduction  of  the  Drayton-Soyer 
slaves  was  instigated  or  countenanced  by  a  member 
of  the  United  States  Senate — meaning  Mr.  Hale. 
This  bill  is  intended  to  cover  negro-robbery.  The 
New  Hampshire  senator  is  endeavoring  to  get  up 
civil  war  and  insurrection.  Let  him  go  South.  Let 
him  visit  the  good  State  of  Mississippi.  I  invite  him 
there,  and  will  tell  him  beforehand,  in  all  honesty, 
that  he  could  not  go  ten  miles  into  the  interior  before 
he  would  grace  one  of  the  tallest  trees  of  the  forest, 
with  a  rope  around  his  neck,  and  if  necessary,  I 
should  myself  assist  in  the  operation ! 

MR.  HALE. — I  did  not  anticipate  this  discussion,  yet 
I  do  not  regret  it.  Before  proceeding  further,  let  me 
say  that  the  statement  that  I  have  given  the  slightest 
countenance  to  the  recent  "  kidnapping  of  slaves  is 
false." 

MR.  FOOTE. — It  had  been  stated  so  to  me  and  I  be- 
lieved it.  I  am  glad  to  hear  the  senator  say  he  had 

8 


170  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

no  connection  with  the  movement — some  of  his  breth- 
ren doubtless  had. 

MR.  HALE. — The  sneer  of  the  gentleman  does  not 
affect  me.  While  I  am  up,  let  me  call  the  attention 
of  the  Senate  to  a  man,  who  I  am  proud  to  call  my 
friend,  the  editor  of  the  "National  Era."  Mr.  Hale 
read  a  card  of  Dr.  Bailey's  in  the  "Intelligencer,"  de- 
claring his  entire  ignorance  of  the  abduction  of  the " 
slaves  till  they  were  returned. 

MR.  CALHOUN. — Does  he  make  denunciation  of  the 
robbery  ? 

MR.  HALE. — He  had  quite  enough  to  do  in  defend- 
ing himself,  and  it  was  no  part  of  his  duty  to  de- 
nounce others. 

MR.  CALHOUN. — I  understand  that. 

Mr.  Hale  went  on  to  refer  to  Mr.  Foote's  invita- 
tion of  hanging  in  Mississippi,  and  would,  in  return 
for  the  hospitality,  invite  the  senator  to  come  to  New 
Hampshire  to  discuss  this  whole  subject,  and  he 
would  there  promise  him  protection  and  rights.  He 
defended  his  bill  as  containing  simply  the  plainest 
provisions  of  the  common  law ;  yet  the  South  Caro- 
lina senator  was  shocked  at  his  temerity. 

MR.  BUTLER. — Will  the  senator  vote  for  a  bill,  pro- 
perly drawn,  inflicting  punishment  on  persons  in- 
veigling slaves  from  the  District -of  Columbia  ? 

MR.  HALE. — Certainly  not ;  and  why  ?  Because 
I  do  not  believe  slavery  should  exist  here. 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  171 

MR.  CALIIOUN. — He  wishes  to  arm  the  robbers  and 

disarm  the  people  of  the  district I 

will  take  this  occasion  to  say,  that  I  would  just  as 
soon  argue  with  a  maniac  from  Bedlam  as  with  the 
senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Hale  went  on  calmly  to  reply  to. all  these  per- 
sonalities by  defending  his  bill.  Mr.  Foote  again  got 
the  floor,  and  began  to  defend  his  threat  of  assassina- 
tion. He  never  deplored  the  death  of  such  men. 
The  senator  from  New  Hampshire  will  never  be  a 
victim.  He  is  one  of  those  gusty  declaimers — a 
windy  speaker — a 

MB.  CRITTENDEN. — I  call  the  gentleman  to  order — 
and  Mr.  Foote  was  called  to  order  by  the  presiding 
officer. 

Later  in  the  day,  Mr.  Douglas  rose  and  congratu- 
lated Mr.  Hale  on  the  triumph  he  had  achieved.  The 
debate  would  give  him  ten  thousand  votes.  He 
could  never  have  represented  a  State  on  that  floor  but 
for  such  southern  speeches  as  they  had  just  listened 
to,  breathing  a  fanaticism  as  wild  and  reckless  as  that 
of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

MR.  CALHOUN. — Does  the  gentleman  pretend  to  call 
me  and  those  who  act  with  me  fanatics  ?  We  are  only 
defending  ourselves.  The  Illinois  senator  partially 
apologized.  Mr.  Foote  was  restive,  however,  and 
said  that  he  must  repeat  his  conviction,  that  any  man 
who  utters  in  the  South  the  sentiments  of  the  New 


172  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Hampshire  senator,  will  meet  with  death  upon  the 
scaffold — and  deserves  it. 

MR.  DOUGLAS. — I  must  again  congratulate  the 
senator  from  New  Hampshire  upon  the  accession  of 
five  thousand  more  votes !  and  he  is  on  for  honors? 
Who  can  believe  that  now  walks  into  the  United 
States  Senate,  that  such  things  could  have  been  with- 
in so  few  years  ? 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  this  volume  with  extracts 
from  exciting  and  interesting  debates  in  the  Senate, 
in  which  Mr.  Hale  participated,  but  we  have  room 
only  for  a  few  paragraphs,  to  show  his  style  and 
manner. 

Jan.  19  and  21,  1857,  Mr.  Hale  delivered  one  of 
his  longest  and  ablest  senatorial  speeches  upon  Kansas 
and  the  Supreme  Court.  "We  subjoin  a  few  extracts : 

"  I  aver  here  that  the  object  of  the  Nebraska  bill  was  to 
break  down  the  barrier  which  separated  free  territory  from 
slave  territory  ;  to  let  slavery  into  Kansas,  and  make  another 
slave  state,  legally  and  peacefully  if  you  could,  but  a  slave 
state  anyhow.  I  gather  that  from  the  history  of  the  times, 
from  the  character  of  the  bill,  from  the  measure,  the  great 
measure,  the  only  measure  of  any  consequence  in  the  bill, 
which  was  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  restriction. 

****** 

"  I  say,  then,  sir,  that  the  rule  by  which  to  judge  of 
the  intent,  the  object,  the  purpose  of  an  act,  is  to  see 
what  the  act  is  calculated  to  do,  what  its  natural  tendency 
is,  what  will  in  all  human  probability  be  the  effect.  Before 
the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  there  stood  upon 
your  statute-book  a  law  by  which  slavery  was  prohibited 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  173 

from  going  into  any  territory  north  of  36°  30'.  The  validity 
and  constitutionality  of  that  law  had  been  recognized  by  re- 
peated decisions  of  the  courts  of  the  several  States.  If  I  am 
not  mistaken,  I  have  a  memorandum  by  me,  showing  that  it  had 
been  recognized  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Loui- 
siana. So  far  as  I  know,  the  constitutionality  of  that  enact- 
ment was  unquestioned,  and  the  country  had  reposed  in  peace 
for  more  than  a  generation  under  its  operation.  By  and  by, 
however,  it  was  discovered  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  it  was 
broken  down.  The  instant  it  was  broken  down,  slavery  went 
into  Kansas  ;  but  still,  gentlemen  tell  us  they  did  not  intend 
to  let  slavery  in ;  that  was  not  the  object.  Let  me  illustrate 
this.  Suppose  a  farmer  has  a  rich  field,  and  a  pasture  adjoin- 
ing, separated  by  a  stonewall  which  his  fathers  had  erected 
there  thirty  years  before.  The  wall  keeps  out  the  cattle  in 
the  pasture,  who  are  exceedingly  anxious  to  get  into  the  field. 
Some  modern  reformer  thinks  that  moral  suasion  will  keep 
them  in  the  pasture,  even  if  the  wall  should  be  taken  down, 
and  he  proceeds  to  take  it  down.  The  result  is,  that  the 
cattle  go  right  in  ;  the  experiment  fails.  The  philosopher 
says  ;  '  Do  not  blame  me  ;  that  was  not  my  intention  ;  but 
it  is  true,  the  effect  has  followed.'  I  retort  upon  him  ;  '  You 
knew  the  effect  would  follow  ;  and,  knowing  that  it  would 
follow,  you  intended  that  it  should  follow.' 

****** 

"  This  brings  me  to  another  part  of  my  subject,  in  answer 
to  a  question  which  the  honorable  senator  from  Illinois  (Mr. 
Douglas)  propounded,  when  he  asked  if  he  was  to  be  read 
out  of  the  party  for  a  difference  on  this  point.  I  have  great 
regard  for  the  sagacity  of  that  honorable  senator,  but  I  con- 
fess it  was  a  little  shaken  when  he  asked  that  question  ;  is  a 
man  to  be  read  out  of  the  party  for  departing  from  the  Pre- 
sident on  this  great  cardinal  point  ?  Why,  sir,  he  asks,  is  a 
man  who  differs  from  the  President  on  the  Pacific  railroad  to 
go  out  of  the  party  ?  Oh  no,  he  may  stay.  If  he  differs  on. 


174  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Central  America,  very  good  ;  take  the  first  seat  if  you  please. 
You  may  differ  with  the  President  on  anything  and  every- 
thing but  one,  and  that  is  this  sentiment,  which  I  shall  read  ; 
Mr.  Buchanan  shall  speak  his  own  creed.  On  the  19th  of 
August  1842,  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Buchanan  used  this  lan- 
guage : 

"  '  I  might  here  repeat  what  I  have  said  on  a  former  occa- 
sion ' — (you  see  it  was  so  important  he  must  repeat  it) — '  that 
all  Christendom' — (mark  the  words) — '  is  leagued  against  the 
South  upon  this  question  of  domestic  slavery.' 

"  All  Christendom  includes  a  great  many  people.  If  that 
be  true,  and  if  you  have  got  any  allies,  it  is  manifest  they 
must  be  outside  of  Christendom,  because  Mr.  Buchanan  says 
all  Christendom  is  against  you  ;  but  still  he  leaves  you  some 
allies,  and  you  will  see — it  is  as  plain  as  demonstration  can 
make  it — that  your  allies  are  not  included  in  Christendom. 
Where  are  the  allies  ?  I  will  read  the  next  sentence  : 

"  'They  have  no  other  allies  to  sustain  their  constitutional 
rights  except  the  Democracy  of  the  North.' 

"  There  is  a  fight  for  you  :  all  Christendom  on  one  side, 
and  the  Democracy  of  the  North  on  the  other.  That  is  not 
my  version  ;  it  is  Mr.  Buchanan's.  That  is  the  way  he 
backs  his  friends  ;  for  he  went  on,  after  having  made  this 
avowal,  to  claim  peculiar  consideration  from  southern  gentle- 
men, and  intimated  that  he  might  speak  a  little  more  freely, 
having  previously  indorsed  them  so  highly  as  this.  Well, 
sir,  when  all  Christendom  was  on  one  side,  and  the  Demo- 
cracy of  the  North  on  the  other,  and  the  Democracy  of  the 
North  growing  less  and  less  every  day — a  small  minority  in 
the  New  England  States — how  could  the  senator  from  Illinois 
be  so  unkind,  or  how  could  he  doubt,  if  on  this  vital  question 
lie  deserted  the  Democracy  and  went  over  to  Christendom, 
as  to  how  the  question  would  be  answered  whether  he  was 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  175 

to  be  read  out  of  the  party  ?  Read  out,  sir.  That  question 
was  settled  long  ago.  On  this  great  vital  question  he  is  out 
of  the  party. 

"  I  would  not  say  anything  unkind  to  that  senator,  nor 
would  I  say  anything  uncourteous  in  the  world  ;  but  ray  ex- 
perience in  the  country  life  of  New  England  does  present  to 
my  mind  an  illustration  which  I  know  he  will  excuse  me  if  I 
give  it.  A  neighbor  of  mine  had  a  very  valuable  horse. 
The  horse  was  taken  sick,  and  he  tried  all  the  ways  in  the 
world  to  cure  him,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  The  horse  grew 
worse  daily.  At  last,  one  of  his  neighbors  said  :  '  What  are 
you  going  to  do  with  the  horse  ?'  '  I  do  not  know/  was  the 
reply  ;  '  but  I  think  I  shall  have  to  kill  him.'  '  Well/  said 
the  other,  '  he  does  not  want  much  killing.'  You  see,  iu 
ordinary  times,  and  on  ordinary  questions,  a  little  wavering 
might  be  indulged  ;  but  when  it  is  on  one  question,  and  a 
great  vital  question,  and  all  Christendom  is  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  northern  Democracy  on  the  other,  to  go  over  from 
the  ranks  of  the  Democracy  to  swell  the  swollen  ranks  of 
Christendom,  and  then  ask  if  he  is  to  be  read  out  1 

"  This  omission  to  submit  the  constitution  to  the  people  of 
Kansas  is  not  accidental.  I  am  sorry  to  find,  as  I  have 
found  out  this  session,  that  the  omission  to  put  it  in  the  ori- 
ginal bill  was  not  accidental.  We  have  a  little  light  on  this 
subject  from  a  gentleman  who  always  sheds  light  when  he 
speaks  to  the  Senate — I  mean  the  honorable  senator  from 
Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Bigler].  He  says  that  this  was  not  acci- 
dental, by  any  means.  He  has  spoken  once  or  twice  about 
a  meeting  that  was  held  in  the  private  parlor  of  a  private 
gentleman.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  inquiry  and  anxiety 
to  know  what  sort  of  a  meeting  that  was.  The  gentleman 
who  owns  the  house  said  he  did  not  know  anything  about  it. 
That  is  not  strange.  The  hospitable  man  let  his  guests  have 
the  use  of  any  room  they  chose.  The  honorable  senator  from 
Pennsylvania  said  this  meeting  was  '  semi-official.'  I  do  not 


176  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

know  what  kind  of  a  meeting  that  was.  I  have  heard  of  a 
serai-barbarous,  a  semi-civilized,  and  a  semi-savage  people  ;  I 
have  heard  of  a  semi-annual,  and  semi-weekly  ;  but  when  you 
come  to  semi-official,  I  declare  it  bothers  me.  What  sort  of 
a  meeting  was  it  ?  Was  it  an  official  meeting  ?  No.  Was 
it  an  unofficial  meeting  ?  No.  What  was  it  ?  Semi-official. 
"  I  have  never  met  anything  analogous  to  it  but  once  in 
my  life,  and  that  I  will  mention  by  way  of  illustration.  A 
trader  in  my  town,  before  the  day  of  railroads,  had  taken  a 
large  bank  bill,  and  he  was  a  little  doubtful  whether  it  was 
genuine  or  not.  He  concluded  to  give  it  to  the  stage  driver, 
and  send  it  down  to  the  bank'  to  inquire  of  the  cashier  whether 
it  was  a  genuine  bill.  The  driver  took  it,  and  promised  to 
attend  to  it.  He  went  down  the  first  day,  but  he  had  so 
many  other  errands  that  he  forgot  it,  and  he  said  he  would 
certainly  attend  to  it  the  next  day.  The  next  day  he  forgot 
it,  and  the  third  day  he  forgot  it ;  but  he  said,  '  to-morrow 
I  will  do  it,  if  I  do  nothing  else  ;  I  will  ascertain  whether 
the  bill  is  genuine  or  not.'  He  went  the  fourth  day,  with  a 
like  result ;  he  forgot  it  ;  and  when  he  came  home,  he  saw 
the  nervous,  anxious  trader,  wanting  to  know  whether  it  was 
genuine  or  not  ;  and  he  was  ashamed  to  tell  him  he  had 
forgotten  it,  and  he  thought  he  would  lie  it  through.  Said 
the  trader  to  him,  '  Did  you  call  at  the  bank  ?'  '  Yes.'  '  Did 
the  cashier  say  it  was  a  genuine  bill  ?'  '  No,  he  did  not.' 
'  Did  he  say  it  was  a  bad  one  ?'  '  No.'  '  Well,  what  did  he 
say  ?'  '  He  said  it  was  about  middling — semi-genuine.'  I 
have  never  learned  to  this  day  whether  that  was  a  good  or 
a  bad  bill.  They  used  to  say,  in  General  Jackson's  time, 
that  he  had  a  kitchen  cabinet  as  well  as  a  regular  one.  This 
could  not  be  a  meeting  of  the  kitchen  cabinet,  because  it  sat 
in  a  parlor.  It  was  semi-official  in  its  character  also." 

The  speech,  closes  with  the  following  language  in 


JOHN   P.  HALE.  177 

reference  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court : 

"  If  the  opinions  of  the  Supreme.  Court  are  true,  they  put 
these  men  in  the  worst  position  of  any  men  who  are  to  be 
found  on  the  pages  of  our  history.  If  the  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  be  true,  it  makes  the  immortal  authors  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  liars  before  God  and  hypo- 
crites before  the  world  ;  for  they  lay  down  their  sentiments 
broad,  full,  and  explicit,  and  then  they  say  that  they  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe  for  the  rectitude  of 
their  intentions ;  but,  if  you  beh'eve  the  Supreme  Court,  they 
were  merely  quibbjing  on  words.  They  went  into  the  courts 
of  the  Most  High,  and  pledged  fidelity  to  their  principles  as 
the  price  they  would  pay  for  success;  and  now  it  is  attempted 
to  cheat  them  out  of  the  poor  boon  of  integrity;  and  it  is  said 
that  they  did  not  mean  so;  and  that  when  they  said  all  men, 
they  meant  all  white  men;  and  when  they  said  that  the  con- 
test they  waged  was  for  the  right  of  mankind,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  would  have  you  believe  that  they 
meant  it  was  to  establish  slavery.  Against  that  I  protest, 
here,  now,  and  everywhere;  and  I  tell  the  Supreme  Court 
that  these  things  are  so  impregnably  fixed  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  on  the  page  of  history,  in  the  recollections  and 
traditions  of  men,  that  it  will  require  mightier  efforts  than 
they  have  made  or  can  make  to  overturn  or  to  shake  these 
settled  convictions  of  the  popular  understanding  and  of  the 
popular  heart. 

"  Sir,  you  are  now  proposing  to  carry  out  this  Dred  Scott 
decision  by  forcing  upon  the  people  of  Kansas  a  constitution 
against  which  they  have  remonstrated,  and  to  which,  there 
can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt,  a  very  large  portion  of  them  are 
opposed.  Will  it  succeed?  I  do  not  know;  it  is  not  for  me 
to  say,  but  I  will  say  this,  if  you  force  that,  if  you  persevere 
in  that  attempt,  I  think,  I  hope  the  men  of  Kansas  will  fight. 

8* 


178  PRESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATES. 

I  hope  they  will  resist  to  blood  and  to  death  the  attempt  to 
force  them  to  a  submission  against  which  their  fathers  con- 
tended, and  to  which  they  never  would  have  submitted.  Let 
me  tell  you,  sir,  I  stand  not  here  to  use  the  language  of  inti- 
midation or  of  menace;  but  you  kindle  the  fires  of  civil  war 
in  that  country  by  an  attempt  to  force  that  constitution  on 
the  necks  of  an  unwilling  people ;  and  you  will  light  a  fire 
that  all  Democracy  cannot  quench.  Aye,  sir,  there  will 
come  up  many  another  Peter  the  Hermit,  that  will  go 
through  the  length  and  the  breadth  of  this  land,  telling  the 
story  of  your  wrongs  and  your  outrages;  and  they  will  stir 
the  public  heart  ;  they  will  raise  a  feeling  in  this  country 
such  as  has  never  yet  been  raised;  and  the  men  of  this  coun- 
try will  go  forth,  as  they  did  of  olden  time,  in  another  cru- 
sade ;  but  it  will  not  be  a  crusade  to  redeem  the  dead  sepulchre 
where  the  body  of  the  Crucified  had  lain  from  the  profana- 
tion of  the  infidel,  but  to  redeem  this  fair  land,  which  God 
has  given  to  be  the  abode  of  freemen,  from  the  desecration 
of  a  despotism  sought  to  be  imposed  upon  them  in  the  name 
of  'perfect  freedom'  and  'popular  sovereignty.'" 


ALEXANDER    H.    STEPHENS. 

MK.  STEPHENS,  of  Georgia,  has  for  years  been  a 
leading  character  in  the  politics  of  the  country,  and 
has  been  reckoned  by  all  who  know  him,  or  of  his  acts 
in  Congress,  as  one  of  the  first  men  which  the  South 
has  sent  into  public  life.  He  is  a  native  of  Georgia, 
where  he  was  born  in  the  year  1812.  His  grand- 
father, the  Hon.  Alexander  Stephens,  was  an  English- 
man and  Jacobite,  and  came  to  this  country  about 
the  year  1746.  He  joined  the  American  Colonial 
army — was  present  at  Braddock's  defeat,  and  took  a 
very  active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  "War,  and 
settled  down,  after  it  was  over,  in  Pennsylvania.  In 
1795,  he  emigrated  to  Georgia,  and  finally  settled 
down  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  his  grandson 
— the  subject  of  this  sketch — in  Taliaferro  County. 
He  died  on  this  place,  in  1813,  at  the  age  of 
ninety -three.  The  year  before,  young  Alexander  was 
born,  his  mother  dying  while  he  was  an  infant.  His 
father  was  comparatively  poor,  but  was  industrious 
and  virtuous,  so  that  he  maintained  a  high  reputa- 
tion in  the  town  of  his  birth.  He  died  when  Alex- 
ander was  only  fourteen  years  of  age,  leaving  each  of 


179 


180  PBESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

his  children  a  trifle  over  fonr  hundred  dollars  as  their 
portion.  Alexander  was  sickly  and  emaciated,  and 
little  was  hoped  of  him.  He  had  attended  a  com- 
mon school  in  the  neighborhood,  and  his  uncle  kept 
him  still  in  attendance  upon  it.  Of  course  this  school 
was  a  very  inferior  one,  not  at  all  equal  to  one  of  the 
common  schools  of  New  England.  But  the  boy  learn- 
ed enough  there  to  excite  his  ambition,  and  he  made 
known  his  desire  to  gain  a  classical  education.  He 
was  without  sufficient  funds,  but  generous  friends 
immediately  came  forward  and  furnished  him  with 
all  the  money  he  needed,  which  he  would  only  ac- 
cept as  a  loan.  He  now  went  to  his  studies  alone, 
and  in  less  than  a  year,  without  a  teacher,  fitted  him- 
self for  a  freshman  class,  and  entered  the  Georgia 
University.  After  the  usual  four  years'  course,  he 
graduated  with  unusually  high  honors.  Having 
been  an  invalid  since  his  birth,  the  severe  applica- 
tion of  his  college  course  left  him  in  a  state  of  great 
prostration,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  studies 
and  travel  for  his  health.  In  May,  1834,  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  the  law,  and  he  was  soon  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  His  first  "  case  "  was  an  action 
against  a  landlord  for  a  stolen  trunk — the  trunk  being 
his  own.  He  gained  his  case  and  trunk  easily.  The 
next  was  a  very  important  one.  "  A  wealthy  man, 
was  guardian  of  his  grandchild,  its  mother  having 
married  to  a  second  husband.  In  course  of  time,  the 


ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  181 

mother  desired  possession  of  the  child,  which  was 
resisted  by  the  grandfather,  who  claimed  it  as  legal 
guardian.  The  step-father,  desiring  to  please  his 
wife,  came  to  young  Stephens  and  engaged  him  as 
counsel  to  set  aside  the  guardianship,  older  lawyers 
declining  on  the  score  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  case, 
and  perhaps  a  fear  to  encounter  the  learned  array  of 
counsel  engaged  on  the  opposite  side.  The  trial 
came  off  before  five  judges,  no  jury  being  called. 
Owing  to  the  respectability  of  the  parties,  and  the 
novel  scene  of  a  sickly  boy,  without  any  legal 
practical  experience,  opposed  to  the  most  veteran 
lawyers  at  the  bar,  the  case  attracted  unusual  atten- 
tion. The  result  was,  that  the  guardianship  was  set 
aside,  and  the  child  was  restored  to  the  "possession 
of  its  mother,  and  young  Stephens  at  once  took  a 
prominent  place  at  the  bar,  from  that  time,  being 
engaged  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  every  important 
case  that  was  tried  in  the  county." 

Mr.  Stephens'  success  was  now  so  marked  that  he 
was  sought  after  to  remove  to  some  prominent  city, 
but  he  refused,  preferring  to  remain  with  his  old 
friends,  and  he  was  in  a  few  years  able,  out  of  his 
earnings,  to  purchase  his  grandfather's  estate,  and 
settled  upon  it.  The  subjoined  political  sketch  of 
Mr.  Stephens  is  by  one  of  his  personal  friends — Mr. 
Thorpe — and  is  in  the  main  correct : 

"In  1836,  against  his  wishes,  Mr.  Stephens  was 


182  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

run  by  his  friends  for  the  legislature.  On  the  "Wed- 
nesday before  the  election  he  made  his  first  stump- 
speech — this  was  followed  by  another  on  Saturday, 
and  still  another  at  the  polls  on  election  day.  He 
was  triumphantly  returned  against  a  bitter  opposi- 
tion. He  signalized  his  appearance  as  a  legislator 
in  defence  of  the  bill  which  proposed  '  that  Georgia 
should  launch  out  in  certain  internal  improvements,' 
and  in  spite  of  the  formidable  opposition,  his  speech 
probably  saved  the  bill,  and  thus  inaugurated  the 
commencement  of  the  present  prosperity  of  the 
'  Empire  State  of  the  South.'  In  the  six  years  which 
he  remained  in  the  legislature  he  took  a  most  promi- 
nent part  in  all  important  matters,  particularly  the 
one  whicn  proposed  a  change  in  the  Constitution. 
The  instrument  at  the  time  in  force  said  that  it 
should  only  be  amended  by  a  bill  passed  by  two- 
thirds  of  each  branch  of  the  legislature  at  two  con- 
secutive sessions. 

"  The  difficulty  seemed  insurmountable,  if  opposi- 
tion to  a  change  existed  in  either  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  the  opponents  of  the  bill  appeared  to  be 
impregnable.  Stephens  took  the  ground  that  when 
the  constitution  is  silent  upon  the  mode  of  its 
amendment,  then  the  legislature  can  call  a  conven- 

'  O 

tion ;  that  when  a  constitution  points  out  a  particular 
mode  in  which  it  may  be  amended,  without  exclud- 
ing other  modes,  then  the  legislature  may  adopt  some 


ALEXANDER    IT.  STEPHENS.  183 

other  mode  than  that  pointed  out ;  but  when  a  consti- 
tution provides  a  mode  for  its  amendment,  and  pro- 
hibits all  other  modes,  then  that  mode  only  can  be 
taken  ^'hich  is  provided  for.  Jenkins,  Crawford, 
Howard,  and  others,  took  the  opposite  side,  opposed 
the  bill,  and  voted  for  a  convention  ;  the  universal 
opinion  was  that  the  convention  could  be  called,  and 
the  convention  was  called  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority, which  passed  the  proper  amendments,  but 
they  were  never  ratified  by  the  people. 

"  As  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  opposed  the 
organization  of  the  Court  of  Errors,  believing  that 
the  judiciary  as  established  was  the  best  in  the  world, 
and  that  the  change  would  only  multiply  difficulties, 
without  gaining  any  additional  certainty  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  law  ;  the  bill  was  not  passed  while 
Mr.  Stephens  was  in  the  legislature. 

"  In  1842,  he  went  to  the  State  Senate,  opposed  the 
Central  Bank,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  ques- 
tions of  internal  improvements  and  districting  the 
State,  which  then  divided  parties. 

"  In  18i3,  he  was  nominated  for  Congress,  on  a 
general  ticket,  and  commenced  the  canvass  with  a 
majority  of  two  thousand  votes  against  him,  and  came 
out  of  the  contest  with  thirty-five  hundred  majority  ; 
and  as  he  discussed  on  the  stump  matters  entirely 
relating  to  local  interests,  his  eloquence  and  power 
undoubtedly  carried  the  State.  His  entry  into  Con- 


184 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 


gress  was  signalized  by  extraordinary  circumstances ; 
his  right  to  a  seat  was  denied.  Stephens,  in  the  dis- 
cussion that  ensued,  made  a  speech  in  favor  of  the 
power  of  Congress  to  district  the  States,  though  he 
was  elected  in  defiance  of  the  law  on  a  general  ticket, 
and  then  left  the  House  to  decide  upon  his  claims. 
He  was  permitted  to  take  his  seat. 

"  Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  was  a  prominent 
Whig,  having  been  bred  in  that  school  of  States' 
rights  men  of  the  South  who  sustained  Harrison  in 
1840  ;  but  upon  the  question  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas  coming  up,  he  favored  that  bill,  and  for  the 
first  time  affiliated  with  the  Democracy.  In  the  con- 
test between  Taylor  and  Cass,  he  supported  Taylor. 
On'  the  compromises  of  1850,  he  was  willing  to  sup- 
port any  measure  that  did  away  with  Congressional 
restriction,  leaving  the  territories  to  come  into  the 
Union  with  or  without  slavery.  In  the  Mexican  war, 
he  stood  beside  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  held  that  the  troops 
should  not  be  advanced  ;  but  after  the  war  com- 
menced, he  sustained  it  with  vigor. 
*  "  The  guaranty  that  four  slave  States  should  be 
carved  out  of  the  territory  of  Texas  was  secured 
mainly  by  Mr.  Stephens'  untiring  labor  and  foresight. 
In  1854,  he  advocated  the  Kansas  bill,  which  declared 
null  and  void  the  Missouri  restriction,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  out  the  principle  of  1850,  advanced 
in  the  Utah  and  New  Mexican  bills.  The  year  1855 


ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  185 

was  the  most  interesting  and  critical  period  of  his 
life,  which  he  spent  fighting  the  Know  Nothing  or- 
ganization, in  the  commencement  of  which  he  found 
all  his  early  friends  and  associates  for  the  first 
time  opposed  to  him.  In  the  month  of  May,  of  this 
year,  he  wrote  his  celebrated  letter  against  the  order, 
addressed  to  Col.  Thos.  W.  Thomas.  The  effect  of  it 
was  overwhelming,  not  only  in  his  own  State,  but  in 
Virginia  and  the  adjoining  States.  His  position  was 
sustained,  and  commencing  with  three  thousand 
majority  against  him  in  his  own  district,  he  came 
out  of  the  contest  with  nearly  three  thousand  ma- 
jority. 

"  When  Mr.  Stephens  rises  to  speak  there  is  a  sort 
of  electric  communication  among  the  audience,  as  if 
something  was  about  to  be  uttered  that  was  worth 
listening  to.  The  loungers  take  their  seats,  and  the 
talkers  become  silent,  thus  paying  an  involuntary 
compliment  to  Mr.  Stephens'  talents  and  high  claims 
as  a  gentleman.  At  first  his  voice  is  scarcely  dis- 
tinguishable, but  in  a  few  moments  you  are  surprised 
at  its  volume,  and  you  are  soon  convinced  that  his 
lungs  are  in  perfect  order,  and  as  his  ideas  flow,  you 
are  not  surprised  at  the  rapt  attention  he  commands. 
His  style  of  speaking  is  singularly  polished,  but  he 
conceals  his  art,  and  appears,  to  the  superficial  ob- 
server, to  be  eloquent  by  inspiration.  The  leading 
characteristic  of  his  mind  is  great  practical  good 


186  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

sense,  for  his  arguments  are  always  of  the  most  solid 
and  logical  kind  ;  hence  his  permanent  influence  as 
a  statesman,  while  his  bright  scintillations  of  wit,  and 
profuse  adornment,  secure  him  a  constant  popularity 
as  an  orator.  Possessed  of  a  mind  too  great  to  be 
restrained  by  mere  partisan  influence,  he  has  there- 
fore the  widest  possible  field  of  action,  at  one  time 
heading  a  forlorn  hope  and  leading  it  to  victory,  at 
another,  giving  grace  and  character  to  a  triumphant 
majority.  Common  as  it  is  to  impugn  the  motives 
of  many  of  our  public  servants,  and  charge  them 
directly  with  corruption,  Mr.  Stephens  has  escaped 
without  even  the  taint  of  suspicion,  an  inflexible 
honesty  of  purpose  on  his  part,  as  a  governing  prin- 
ciple, is  awarded  to  him  by  his  veriest  political 
foe." 

Mr.  Stephens'  position  in  Georgia,  in  reference  to 
calling  a  convention  to  frame  a  new  constitution,  is 
not  very  distinctly  stated  by  Mr.  Thorpe.  A  bill 
was  introduced  into  the  legislature  providing  for  the 
calling  of  a  convention  to  remodel  the  State  constitu- 
tion. Mr.  Stephens  opposed  the  bill  because  the  con- 
stitution, as  it  then  stood,  provided  that  only  by  a 
two-thirds  vote  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  at 
two  consecutive  sessions,  could  any  amendment  be 
put  upon  the  constitution.  Mr.  Stephens  argued 
that,  under  these  circumstances,  it  would  be  revo- 
lutionary to  pass  the  bill  calling  a  convention.  But 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  187 

the  bill  passed — and  a  convention  submitted  various 
amendments  to  the  people,  all  of  which  were  re- 
pealed. Since  then  Mr.  Stephens'  views  have  been 
generally  adopted  by  the  people  of  Georgia,  for  the 
constitution  has  been  amended  in  the  mode  pointed 
out  in  that  document  itself.  Since  then,  too,  Mr. 
Stephens'  position  has  been  sustained  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Dorr  case. 

We  have  noticed  the  fact  that  Mr.  Stephens,  when 
young  and  poor,  was  furnished  with  the  means  to 
procure  an  excellent  classical  and  legal  education. 
He  repaid  this  money  to  the  parties  who  so  gene- 
rously aided  him  when  help  was  of  so  much  impor- 
tance to  his  welfare.  Not  only  this :  since  he  has 
himself  been  so  successful,  Mr.  Stephens  has  been 
constantly  engaged  in  helping  poor  young  men  to  an 
education.  He  has  carried  upward  of  thirty  young 
men  through  a  collegiate  or  academic  course  within 
the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  has,  in  this  way, 
repaid  the  generosity  of  his  friends  to  him.  This 
single  incident  will  show  what  his  character  is  for 
generosity. 

Mr.  Stephens  is  one  of  the  most  effective  public 
speakers  in  the  country,  whether  it  be  in  the  court- 
room, the  legislative  hall,  or  before  the  people. 
During  the  last  Congress  he  was  the  leader  of  the 
Democracy  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  by 
his  management  secured  the  admission  of  Oregon 


188  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

into  the  Union.  Perhaps  the  finest  speech  he  ever 
made  in  Congress  was  the  closing  one  in  the  Oregon 
debate.  We  subjoin  a  few  quotations. 

One  in  reference  to  the  anti-negro  clause  of  the 
Oregon  constitution  : 

"  And  those  who  profess  to  be  the  exclusive  friends  of 
negroes,  as  they  now  do,  so  far  as  that  constitution  was  con- 
cerned, voted  to  banish  them  forever  from  the  State,  just  as 
Oregon  has  done.  Whether  this  banishment  be  right  or 
wrong,  it  is  no  worse  in  Oregon  than  it  was  in  Kansas. 
But,  on  the  score  of  humanity,  we  of  the  South  do  not  be- 
lieve that  those  who,  in  Kansas  or  Oregon,  banish  this  race 
from  their  limits,  are  better  friends  of  the  negro  than  we  are, 
who  assign  them  that  place  among  us  to  which  by  nature 
they  are  fitted,  and  in  which  they  add  so  much  more  to  their 
own  happiness  and  comfort,  besides  to  the  common  well-being 
of  all.  We  give  them  a  reception.  We  give  them  shelter. 
We  clothe  them.  We  feed  them.  We  provide  for  their 
every  want,  in  health  and  in  sickness,  in  infancy  and  old  age. 
We  teach  them  to  work.  We  educate  them  in  the  arts  of 
civilization  and  the  virtues  of  Christianity,  much  more  effect- 
ually and  successfully  than  you  can  ever  do  on  the  coasts  of 
Africa.  And,  without  any  cost  to  the  public,  we  render 
them  useful  to  themselves  and  to  the  world.  The  first  lesson 
in  civilization  and  Christianity  to  be  taught  to  the  barbarous 
tribes,  wherever  to  be  found,  is  the  first  great  curse  against 
the  human  family — that  in  the  sweat  of  their  face  they  shall 
eat  their  bread.  Under  our  system,  our  tuition,  our  guard- 
ianship and  fostering  care,  these  people,  exciting  so  much 
misplaced  philanthropy,  have  attained  a  higher  degree  of 
civilization  than  their  race  has  attained  anywhere  else  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth.  The  Topeka  people  excluded  them  ; 
they,  like  the  neighbors  we  read  of,  went  round  them ;  we, 


ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  189 

like  the  good  Samaritans,  shun  not  their  destitution  or  de- 
gradation— we  alleviate  both.     But  let  that  go. 

"  Oregon  has,  in  this  matter,  done  no  worse  than  the  gentle- 
man's friends  did  in  Kansas.  /  think  she  acted  unwisely  in  it 
— that  is  her  business,  not  mine.  But  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  [Mr.  Stanton]  questions  me,  how  could  a  negro  in  Ore- 
gon ever  get  his  freedom  under  the  constitution  they  have 
adopted  ?  I  tell  him,  under  their  constitution  a  slave  cannot 
exist  there.  The  fundamental  law  is  against  it.  But,  he 
asks,  how  could  his  freedom  ever  be  established,  as  no  free 
person  of  color  can  sue  in  her  courts  ?  Neither  can  they  in 
Georgia;  still  our  courts  are  open  to  this  class  of  people,  who 
appear  by  prochein  ami  or  guardian.  Nor  is  there  any  great 
hardship  in  this;  for  married  women  cannot  sue  in  their  own 
names  anywhere  where  the  common  law  prevails.  Minors 
also  have  to  sue  by  guardian  or  next  friend.  We  have  suits 
continually  in  our  tribunals  by  persons  claiming  to  be  free 
persons  of  color.  They  cannot  sue  in  their  own  names,  but 
by  next  friend.  They  are  not  citizens;  we  do  not  recognize 
them  as  such ;  but  still  the  courts  are  open ;  and  just  so  will 
they  be  in  Oregon,  if  the  question  is  ever  raised." 

The  closing  portions  of  the  speech  give  such  a 
good  idea  of  the  style  of  Mr.  Stephens'  oratorical 
powers,  that  we  must  quote  them : 

"  Let  us  not  do  an  indirect  wrong,  for  fear  that  the  re- 
cipient from  our  hands  of  what  is  properly  due  will  turn 
upon  us  and  injure  us.  Statesmen  in  the  line  of  duty 
should  never  consult  their  fears.  Where  duty  leads,  there 
we  may  never  fear  to  tread.  In  the  political  world,  great 
events  and  changes  are  rapidly  crowding  upon  us.  To  these 
we  should  not  be  insensible.  As  wise  men,  we  should  not 
attempt  to  ignore  them.  We  need  not  close  our  eyes,  and 
suppose  the  sun  will  cease  to  shine  because  we  see  not  the 


190  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

light.  Let  us  rather,  with  eyes  and  mind  wide  awake,  look 
around  us  and  see  where  we  are,  whence  we  have  come,  and 
where  we  shall  soon  be,  borne  along  by  the  rapid,  swift,  and 
irresistible  car  of  time.  This  immense  territory  to  the  west 
has  to  be  peopled.  It  is  now  peopling.  New  States  are  fast 
growing  up  ;  and  others,  not  yet  in  embryo,  will  soon  spring 
into  existence.  Progress  and  development  mark  everything 
in  nature — human  societies,  as  well  as  everything  else.  No- 
thing in  the  physical  world  is  still  ;  life  and  motion  are  in 
everything;  so  in  the  mental,  moral,  and  political.  The  earth 
is  never  still.  The  great  central  orb  is  ever  moving.  Pro- 
gress is  the  universal  law  governing  all  things — animate  as 
well  as  inanimate.  Death  itself  is  but  the  beginning  of  a 
new  life  in  a  new  form.  Our  government  and  institutions  are 
subject  to  this  all-pervading  power.  The  past  wonderfully 
exemplifies  its  influence,  and  gives  us  some  shadows  of  the 
future. 

"  This  is  the  sixteenth  session  that  I  have  been  here,  and 
within  that  brief  space  of  fifteen  years,  we  have  added  six 
States  to  the  Union — lacking  but  one  of  being  more  than 
half  the  original  thirteen.  Upward  of  twelve  hundred 
thousand  square  miles  of  territory — a  much  larger  area  than 
was  possessed  by  the  whole  United  States  at  the  time  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  in  1783 — have  been  added  to  our  domain. 
At  this  time  the  area  of  our  Republic  is  greater  than  that 
of  any  five  of  the  greatest  powers  in  Europe  all  combined  ; 
greater  than  that  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  brightest  days 
of  her  glory ;  more  extensive  than  were  Alexander's  dominions 
when  he  stood  on  the  Indus,  and  wept  that  he  had  no  more 
worlds  to  conquer.  Such  is  our  present  position  ;  nor  are 
we  yet  at  the  end  of  our  acquisitions. 

"  Our  internal  movements,  within  the  same  time,  have  not 
been  less  active  in  progress  and  development  than  those  ex- 
ternal. A  bare  glance  at  these  will  suffice.  Our  tonnage, 
when  I  first  came  to  Congress,  was  but  a  little  over  two 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.          191 

million  ;  now  it  is  upward  of  five  million,  more  than 
double.  Our  exports  of  domestic"  manufactures  were  only 
eleven  million  dollars  in  -round  numbers  ;  now  they  are  up- 
ward of  thirty  million.  Our  exports  of  domestic  produce, 
staples,  etc.,  were  then  under  one  hundred  million  dollars  ; 
now  they  are  upward  of  three  hundred  million  !  The 
amount  of  coin  in  the  United  States,  was  at  that  time  about 
one  hundred  million  ;  now  it  exceeds  three  hundred  million. 
The  cotton  crop  then  was  but  fifty-four  million  ;  now  it  is 
upward  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  million  dollars.  We  had 
then  not  more  than  five  thousand  miles  miles  of  railroad  in 
operation  ;  we  have  now  not  less  than  twenty -six  thousand 
miles — more  than  enough  to  encircle  the  globe — and  at  a  cost 
of  more  than  one  thousand  million  dollars.  At  that  time, 
Prof.  Morse  was  engaged  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  this  Capitol 
in  experimenting  on  his  unperfected  idea  of  an  electric  tele- 
graph— and  there  was  as  much  doubt  about  his  success,  as 
there  is  at  present  about  the  Atlantic  cable  ;  but  now  there 
are  more  than  thirty-five  thousand  miles  in  extent  of  these 
iron  nerves  sent  forth  in  every  direction  through  the  land,  con- 
necting the  most  distant  points,  and  uniting  all  together  as 
if  under  the  influence  of  a  common  living  sensorium.  This 
is  but  a  glance  at  the  surface  ;  to  enter  within  and  take 
the  range  of  other  matters — schools,  colleges,  the  arts, 
and  various  mechanical  and  industrial  pursuits,  which  add 
to  the  intelligence,  wealth  and  prosperity  of  a  people,  and 
mark  their  course  in  the  history  of  nations,  would  require 
time  ;  but  in  all  would  be  found  alike  astonishing  results. 

"  This  progress,  sir,  is  not  to  be  arrested.  It  will  go  on. 
The  end  is  not  yet.  There  are  persons  now  living  who  will 
see  over  a  hundred  million  human  beings  within  the  present 
boundaries  of  the  United  States,  to  say  nothing  of  future 
extension,  and  perhaps  double  the  number  of  States  we  now 
have,  should  the  Union  last.  For  myself,  I  say  to  you,  my 
southern  colleagues  on  this  floor,  that  I  do  not  apprehend 


192  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

danger  to  our  constitutional  rights  from  the  bare  fact  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  States  with  institutions  dissimilar  to 
ours.  The  whole  governmental  fabric  of  the  United  States 
is  based  and  founded  upon  the  idea  of  dissimilarity  in  the 
institutions  of  the  respective  members.  Principles,  not 
numbers,  are  our  protection.  When  these  fail,  we  have  like 
all  other  people,  who,  knowing  their  rights,  dare  maintain 
them,  nothing  to  rely  upon  but  the  justice  of  our  cause,  our 
own  right  arms  and  stout  hearts.  With  these  feelings  and 
this  basis  of  action,  whenever  any  State  comes  and  asks  ad- 
mission, as  Oregon  does,  I  am  prepared  to  extend  her  the 
hand  of  welcome,  without  looking  into  her  constitution 
further  than  to  see  that  it  is  republican  in  form,  upon  our 
well-known  American  models. 

"  When  aggression  comes,  if  come  it  ever  shall,  then  the  end 
draweth  nigh.  Then,  if  in  my  day,  I  shall  be  for  resistance, 
open,  bold,  and  defiant.  I  know  of  no  allegiance  superior 
to  that  due  the  hearthstones  of  the  homestead.  This  I  say 
to  all.  I  lay  no  claim  to  any  sentiment  of  nationality  not 
founded  upon  the  patriotism  of  a  true  heart,  and  I  know  of 
no  such  patriotism  that  does  not  centre  at  home.  Like  the 
enlarging  circle  upon  the  surface  of  smooth  waters,  however, 
this  can  and  will,  if  unobstructed,  extend  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  a  common  country.  Such  is  my  nationality — such 
my  sectionalism — such  my  patriotism.  Our  fathers  of  the 
South  joined  your  fathers  of  the  North  in  resistance  to  a 
common  aggression  from  their  fatherland  ;  and  if  they  were 
justified  in  rising  to  right  a  wrong  inflicted  by  a  parent 
country,  how  much  more  ought  we,  should  the  necessity  ever 
come,  to  stand  justified  before  an  enlightened  world,  in  right- 
ing a  wrong  from  even  those  we  call  brothers.  That  neces- 
sity, I  trust,  will  never  come. 

"  What  is  to  be  our  future,  I  do  not  know.  I  have  no 
taste  for  indulging  in  speculations  about  it.  I  would  not,  if 
I  could,  raise  the  veil  that  wisely  conceals  it  from  us. 


ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  193 

1  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof,'  is  a  good  pre- 
cept in  everything  pertaining  to  human  action.  The  evil 
I  would  not  anticipate  ;  I  would  rather  strive  to  prevent  its 
coming  ;  and  one  way,  in  my  judgment,  to  prevent  it,  is, 
while  here,  in  all  things  to  do  what  is  right  and  proper  to  be 
done  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  nothing 
more,  and  nothing  less.  Our  safety,  as  well  as  the  prosperity 
of  all  parts  of  the  country,  so  long  as  this  government  lasts, 
lies  mainly  in  a  strict  conformity  to  the  laws  of  its  existence. 
Growth  is  one  of  these.  The  admission  of  new  States,  is 
one  of  the  objects  expressly  provided  for.  How  are  they  to 
come  in  ?  With  just  such  constitutions  as  the  people  in  each 
may  please  to  make  for  themselves,  so  it  is  republican  hi 
form.  This  is  the  ground  the  South  has  ever  stood  upon. 
Let  us  not  abandon  it  now.  It  is  founded  upon  a  principle 
planted  in  the  compact  of  Union  itself ;  and  more  essential  to 
us  than  all  others  besides  ;  that  is,  the  equality  of  the  States, 
and  the  reserved  rights  of  the  people  of  the  respective 
States.  By  our  system,  each  State,  however  great  the 
number,  has  the  absolute  right  to  regulate  all  its  internal 
affairs  as  she  pleases,  subject  only  to  her  obligations  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  With  this  limitation, 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  have  the  perfect  right  to  do  as 
they  please  upon  all  matters  relating  to  their  internal  policy ; 
the  people  of  Ohio  have  the  right  to  do  the  same  ;  the 
people  of  Georgia  the  same  ;  of  California  the  same  ;  and 
so  with  all  the  rest. 

"  Such  is  the  machinery  of  our  theory  of  self-government  by 
the  people.  This  is  the  great  novelty  of  our  peculiar  system, 
involving  a  principle  unknown  to  the  ancients,  an  idea  never 
dreamed  of  by  Aristotle  or  Plato.  The  union  of  several 
distinct,  independent  communities  upon  this  basis,  is  a  new 
principle  in  human  governments.  It  is  now  a  problem  in 
experiment  for  the  people  of  the  nineteenth  century  upon  this 
continent  to  solve.  As  I  behold  its  workings  in  the  past 

9 


194  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

and  at  the  present,  while  I  am  not  sanguine,  yet  I  am  hope- 
ful of  its  successful  solution.  The  most  joyous  feeling  of  my 
heart  is  the  earnest  hope  that  it  will,  for  the  future,  move 
on  as  peacefully,  prosperously,  and  brilliantly,  as  it  has  in 
the  past.  If  so,  then  we  shall  exhibit  a  moral  and  political 
spectacle  to  the  world  something  like  the  prophetic  vision 
of  Ezekiel,  when  he  saw  a  number  of  distinct  beings  or  liv- 
ing creatures,  each  with  a  separate  and  distinct  organism, 
having  the  functions  of  life  within  itself,  all  of  one  external 
likeness,  and  all,  at  the  same  time,  mysteriously  connected 
with  one  common  animating  spirit  pervading  the  whole,  so 
that  when  the  common  spirit  moved  they  all  moved  ;  their 
appearance  and  their  work  being,  as  it  were,  a  wheel  in  the 
middle  of  a  wheel  ;  and  whithersoever  the  common  spirit 
went,  thither  the  others  went,  all  going  together  ;  and  when 
they  went,  he  heard  the  noise  of  their  motion  like  the  noise 
of  great  waters,  as  the  voice  of  the  Almighty.  Should  our 
experiment  succeed,  such  will  be  our  exhibition — a  machin- 
ery of  government  so  intricate,  so  complicated,  with  so  many 
separate  and  distinct  parts,  so  many  independent  States,  each 
perfect  in  the  attributes  and  functions  of  sovereignty,  within 
its  own  jurisdiction,  all,  nevertheless,  united  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  common  directing  power  for  external  objects  and 
purposes,  may  natural  enough  seem  novel,  strange,  and  inex- 
plicable to  the  philosophers  and  crowned  heads  of  the 
world. 

"  It  is  for  us,  and  those  who  shall  come  after  us,  to  de- 
termine whether  this  grand  experimental  problem  shall  be 
worked  out;  not  by  quarrelling  amongst  ourselves;  not  by 
doing  injustice  to  any;  not  by  keeping  out  any  particular 
class  of  States,  but  by  each  State  remaining  a  separate  and 
distinct  political  organism  within  itself — all  bound  together 
for  general  objects,  and  under  a  common  Federal  head;  as 
it  were,  a  wheel  within  a  wheel.  Then  the  number  may  be 
multiplied  without  limit;  and  then,  indeed,  may  the  nations 


ALEXANDEB  H.  STEPHENS.  195 

of  the  earth  look  on  in  wonder  at  our  career;  and  when  they 
hear  the  noise  of  the  wheels  of  our  progress  in  achievement, 
in  development,  in  expansion,  in  glory  and  renown,  it  may 
well  appear  to  them  not  unlike  the  noise  of  great  waters; 
the  very  voice  of  the  Almighty — Vox  populi!  Vox  Dei! 
(Great  applause  in  the  galleries  and  on  the  floor.) 

"THE  SPEAKER. — If  the  applause  in  the  galleries  is  re- 
peated, the  chair  will  order  the  galleries  to  be  cleared. 

"  MANY  MEMBERS. — It  was  upon  the  floor. 

"MR.  STEPHENS,  of  Georgia.  One  or  two  other  matters 
only  I  wish  to  allude  to.  These  relate  only  to  amendments. 
I  trust  that  every  friend  of  this  bill  will  unite  and  vote  down 
every  amendment.  It  needs  no  amendment.  Oregon  has 
nothing  to  do  with  Kansas,  and  should  in  no  way  be  con- 
nected with  her.  To  remand  her  back,  as  the  gentleman 
from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Marshall)  proposes,  to  compel  her  to 
regulate  suffrage  as  we  may  be  disposed  to  dictate,  would  be 
but  going  back  to  the  old  attempt  to  impose  conditions  upon 
Missouri.  There  is  no  necessity  for  any  census  if  we  are  sat- 
isfied, from  all  the  evidence  before  us,  that  there  are  sixty 
thousand  inhabitants  there.  Florida  was  admitted  without 
a  census.  Texas  was  admitted,  with  two  members  on  this 
floor  without  a  census.  So  was  California. 

"  To  our  friends  upon  this  side  of  the  house,  let  me  say, 
if  you  cannot  vote  for  the  bill,  assist  us  in  having  it  voted 
upon  as  it  is.  Put  on  no  riders.  Give  us  no  side-blows. 
Aid  in  keeping  them  off.  Let  the  measure  stand  or  fall 
upon  its  merits.  If  you  cannot  vote  for  the  bill,  vote  against 
it  just  as  it  stands. 

"I  see  my  time  is  nearly  out,  and  I  cannot  go  into  the 
discussion  of  other  branches  of  the  question;  but  may  I  not 
make  an  appeal  to  all  sides  of  the  house  to  come  up  to  do  their 
duty  to-day  ?  I  have  spoken  of  the  rapid  development  of 
our  country  and  its  progress  in  all  its  material  resources.  Is 
it  true  that  the  intellectual  and  moral  development  of  our 


196  PBESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES. 

country  has  not  kept  pace  with  its  physical  ?  Has  our  poli- 
tical body  outgrown  the  heads  and  hearts  of  those  who  are 
to  govern  it  ?  Is  it  so,  that  this  thirty-fifth  Congress  is  un- 
equal to  the  great  mission  before  it  I  Are  we  progressing  in 
everything  but  inind  and  patriotism  ?  Has  destiny  cast  upon 
us  a  heavier  load  of  duty  than  we  are  able  to  perform  ?  Are 
we  unequal  to  the  task  assigned  us  ?  I  trust  not.  I  know 
it  is  sometimes  said  in  the  country  that  Congress  has  degene- 
rated. It  is  for  us  this  day  to  show  whether  it  is  true  or 
not.  For  myself,  I  do  not  believe  it.  It  may  be  that  the 
esprit  de,  corps  may  have  some  influence  on  my  judgment. 
Something  may  be  pardoned  to  that.  But  still  I  feel  that  I 
address  men  of  as  much  intelligence,  reflection,  talent,  integ- 
rity, virtue  and  worth,  as  I  have  ever  met  in  this  hall;  men 
not  unfit  to  be  the  Representatives  of  this  great,  growing 
and  prosperous  Confederacy.  The  only  real  fitness  for  any 
public  station  is  to  be  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  occasion, 
whatever  that  be.  Let  us,  then,  vindicate  our  characters  as 
fit  legislators  to-day;  and,  with  that  dignity  and  decorum 
which  have  so  signally  marked  our  proceedings  upon  other 
great,  exciting  questions  before,  and  which,  whatever  may 
be  said  of  our  debates,  may  be  claimed  as  a  distinguished 
honor  for  the  present  House  of  Representatives,  let  us  do  the 
work  assigned  us  with  that  integrity  of  purpose  which  dis- 
charges duty  regardless  of  consequences,  and  with  a  patriot- 
ism commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  under 
all  its  responsibilities." 

Mr.  Stephens  took  very  decided  ground  in  favor  of 
the  Lecompton  bill  in  1857-8,  and  when  that  was 
likely  to  fail  in  favor  of  the  English  Compromise. 
He  is  also,  while  a  Union  man,  very  much  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  Southern  Eights  school  of  politicians, 
and  has  made  two  or  three  speeches  in  defence  of  fili- 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  197 

busterism  in  the  house.  He  has  not  entirely  forgot- 
ten that  he  was  once  a  Whig,  for  last  winter  he  spoke 
in  favor  of,  and  supported  heartily  the  French  Spoli- 
ation bill.  He  is  a  very  fair  political  opponent,  doing 
everything  in  an  open  and  frank  manner,  but  a  very 
shrewd  tactician.  He  has  rarely  allowed  himself  to 
be  led  into  excited,  partisan  or  sectional  speeches, 
and,  therefore,  has  long  been  looked  upon  in  Con- 
gress as  an  admirable  party  manager. 


N.  P.  BANKS. 

FEW  men  in  the  country  have,  in  these  latter  days 
of  politics,  been  so  uniformly  successful,  even  when 
circumstances  were  untoward,  as  Governor  Banks. 
He  is  known  by  the  people  as  a  lucky  man.  He  suc- 
ceeds in  whatever  he  undertakes.  He  has  risen  from 
an  obscure  young  man  to  be  Speaker  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives,  and  Governor  of  one  of  the 
first  States  of  the  Union.  "What  may  not  such  a  man 
expect  if  he  be  ambitious  ? 

Mr.  Banks  was  born  in  Waltham,  Mass.,  January  30, 
1816,  where  he  received  a  common  school  education. 
At  a  very  early  age  he  was  placed  to  work  in  a  cot- 
ton-mill, in  his  native  town,  as  a  common  hand.  His 
father  was  an  overseer  in  the  same  mill.  Here  he 
remained  for  some  time,  but  not  liking  the  business 
left  the  mill,  and  learned  the  trade  of  machinist. 
While  thus  engaged,  a  strolling  theatrical  company 
passed  through  Waltham,  and  young  Banks  was  so 
much  taken  with  their  acting,  that  he  learned  to  per- 
form several  parts  himself.  He  succeeded  so  well 
that  a  tempting  offer  was  made  to  him  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  company.  He  was  sufficiently  wise 

198 


N.    P.    BANKS.  199 

to  refuse  the  offer.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  to 
this  dramatic. corps  Mr.  Banks  owes  much  of  his  after 
success.  They  taught  him  much  of  that  gracefulness 
which,  to  this  day,  distinguishes  him  as  an  orator  and 
a  presiding  officer. 

Banks  now  joined  a  village  lyceum  and  made  him- 
self a  ready  speaker — then  delivered  temperance 
speeches,  and  at  last  drifted  into  politics  as  a  Demo- 
crat. He  edited  a  village  paper  in  Waltham,  a 
Democratic  paper,  and  Mr.  Polk  gave  him  an  office 
in  the  Boston  Custom  House.  In  attending  political 
meetings,  Mr.  Banks  often  acted  as  presiding  officer, 
and  it  was  soon  discovered  that  he  possessed  a  re- 
markable talent  for  such  a  post.  In  1849,  Mr.  Banks 
was  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Represent- 
atives, and  put  himself  down  in  the  list  of  members 
as  a  "  machinist."  The  very  next  year  he  turned  to 
the  law — in  1851  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  State 
Legislature,  and  was  a  prominent  advocate  of  the 
coalition  between  the  Democrats  and  Free  Soilers. 
This  was  his  first  step  out  of  the  Democratic  party 
toward  Republicanism.  The  next  year  he  was  re- 
elected  speaker,  and  in  the  autumn  was  elected  to 
Congress.  While  in  Congress,  during  his  first  term, 
he  voted  against  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  though 
he  was  one  of  those  Democrats  who  voted  to  take  the 
Mil  up,  a  movement  which  insured  its  final  success. 

In  1854,  Mr.  Banks  was  taken  up  by  the  Ameri- 


200  PBESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

cans  and  Republicans,  and  sent  again  to  Congress, 
where,  after  a  memorable  two  months'  contest,  yet 
fresh  in  the  reader's  memory,  he  was  elected  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  No  man  has  ever 
surpassed,  if  one  has  ever  equalled  him,  as  a  speaker 
of  that  turbulent  body,  and  he  left  the  post  with  the 
highest  honors.  He  was  reflected  to  Congress,  but 
after  taking  his  seat  and  remaining  a  month  at  Wash- 
ington, he  resigned  it  to  assume  the  governorship  of 
Massachusetts,  to  which  office  the  people  of  the  State 
had  elected  him  by  a  tremendous  majority. 

He  was  reflected  in  the  fall  of  1858  by  a  heavy 
majority,  and  at  this  time  fills  the  Governor's  chair. 
This,  in  a  few  words,  is  Governor  Bank's  political 
career.  As  a  politician,  he  has  shown  himself 
shrewd,  as  a  presiding  officer  prompt,  graceful,  com- 
manding, and  as  an  administrator,  a  governor,  he 
has  proved  himself  to  be  a  man  of  rare  genius.  This, 
in  fact,  is  Governor  Bank's  forte.  He  has  a  genius 
for  governing  men — that  most  rare  of  all  gifts.  He 
cannot  be  said  to  have  made  a  political  blunder  in 
his  life,  speaking  after  the  fashion  of  political  men. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  the  people  what  are 
the  political  opinions  of  such  a  man  as  Governor 
Banks.  But  he  is  so  cautious,  so  reticent,  that  upon 
some  points  it  is  difficult  to  state  his  exact  position- 
In  a  letter,  addressed  by  Mr.  Banks  to  the  Repub- 
lican Convention  of  Worcester — in  the  fall  of  1857, 


N.    P.   BANKS.  201 

Mr.  Banks  states  his  opinions  upon  some  of  the  pro- 
minent questions  of  the  day.  "We  will  make  a  few 
extracts : 

"  My  opinions  upon  all  questions  relating  to  the  General 
Government  of  the  States,  have  been  made  public  during  my 
connection  with  an  office  from  which  I  have  been  but  re- 
cently relieved,  and  also  by  my  course  in  the  late  Presiden- 
tial canvass.  I  resisted  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, and  I  am  still  opposed  to  that  measure,  as  I  am  to  all 
acts  of  the  late  and  present  administration,  whether  of  an 
executive,  legislative,  or  judicial  character,  which  have  been 
devised  to  maintain  or  to  perpetuate  the  original  purpose  of 
that  flagitious  wrong ;  and  I  shall  earnestly  advocate  the 
admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  of  States,  under  its  own 
charter  of  freedom.  I  am  opposed  to  the  further  extension 
of  slavery,  or  to  the  increase  of  its  political  power.  I  believe 
that  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power 
over  the  territories  of  the  United  States  for  their  govern- 
ment; and  that,  in  the  exercise  of  its  authority,  it  is  its  duty 
to  prohibit  slavery  or  polygamy  therein.  I  shall  support 
the  most  energetic  measures  which  the  Constitution  admits, 
for  the  development  of  the  moral  and  material  interests  of 
the  American  people,  defend  the  sovereignty  of  the  States 
against  executive  or  judicial  encroachment,  and  contribute 
all  in  my  power  for  the  restoration  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment to  the  principles  of  the  fathers  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union. 

"  I  am  opposed  to  the  recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  not  only  upon  the  ground  that  it  con- 
troverts the  principles  and  overthrows  all  the  precedents  of 
our  history  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  but  that  it  assumes 
to  decide,  as  a  judicial  problem,  the  question  whether  slavery 
shall  be  established  in  this  State,  which  has  been,  and  ought 

9* 


202  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

to  be,  left  as  a  political  question  for  the  people  of  the  State 
to  determine  for  themselves. 

"  It  is  pleasant  for  us  at  all  times  to  recall  the  traditions  of 
our  fathers,  to  repeat  their  affirmation  of  principles,  which 
seem  to  us  to  be  self-evident  truths,  and  which  were  an- 
nounced to  the  world  by  men  who  were  ready  and  able  to 
support  them  in  council,  and  to  defend  them  in  the  field. 
But  it  is  a  pleasure  that  cannot  be  enjoyed  apart  from  the 
conviction  that  it  is  for  us  an  equal,  if  not  a  higher  duty, 
vigilantly  to  course  every  means  that  will  tend  to  insure  and 
perpetuate  their  supremacy,  on  this  continent  at  least.  If  it 
shall  hereafter  appear  that  our  Government  has  departed 
therefrom,  and  joined  itself  to  other  and  false  political  doc- 
trines, I  trust  that  it  may  never  be  said  of  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  that  an  unreasonable  refusal  of  minor  conces- 
sions, or  their  immaterial  diversities  of  opinions — always  the 
bane  of  republics — gave  success  and  perpetual  power  to 
their  opponents.  No  one  can  doubt  that  a  vast  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  are  opposed  to  the  policy 
represented  by  the  slavery  propagandists;  and  still  less  can 
we  doubt  that  it  is  their  diversity  of  opinion  in  non-essentials 
that  encourages  the  Government  with  hopes  of  success,  and 
constantly  defeats  the  purposes  of  the  people.  It  is  no  less  a 
shame  for  us,  under  such  circumstances,  to  admit  our  incapa- 
city to  maintain  our  principles,  than  to  acknowledge  a  defec- 
tion from  the  faith  of  our  fathers. 

"In  our  age,  with  our  lights,  success  is  a  duty.  The 
graves  of  the  past  proclaim  that  failure  must  be  the  fault  of 
the  people,  and  not  of  their  cause.  But  there  will  be  no 
permanent  failure.  There  was  never  a  more  auspicious  hour 
for  the  friends  of  freedom  than  the  present.  To  whatever 
policy  the  Government  may  now  devote  its  energies,  political 
power  must  soon  fall  into  new  hands.  And  when  power 
shall  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  young  men  of  this  age,  I  can 
entertain  no  doubt  that,  like  the  young  men  of  a  past  age, 


N.    P.    BANKS.  203 

to  whom  Jefferson  appealed,  and  who  were  his  constant  sup- 
porters in  the  great  battles  of  his  day,  for  the  suppression 
of  the  slave  trade,  and  the  ultimate  supremacy  of  Liberty 
in  the  early  councils  of  our  people,  they  will  give  renewed 
life  to  a  national  policy  of  freedom,  traditional  and  true, 
which  must  be  the  basis  of  all  moral  or  material  prosperity, 
and  which  is  dictated  alike  by  conscience  and  common  sense. 
I  rejoice  with  an  inward  joy,  that  the  young  men  of  Massa- 
chusetts, as  it  were  by  spontaneous  movement,  and  with  a 
true  appreciation  of  their  duty  and  power,  have  assumed  a 
position  and  unfurled  a  flag  that  will  be  hailed  in  other 
States  as  a  harbinger  of  a  better  age — a  radiant  star,  that 
shall  lead  to  new  and  decisive  victories  for  the  good  old 
cause. 

"  The  affairs  of  our  State  demand  no  less  our  attention. 
There  is  now  an  unusually  favorable  opportunity  for  the  initi- 
ation of  political  changes  of  great  importance,  which  cannot 
fail  to  be  acceptable  to  all  classes  of  people.  Of  these,  re- 
stricted sessions  of  the  legislature,  and  heavy  retrenchment 
in  State  expenditures,  are  of  lasting  importance.  Our  people, 
constantly  engaged  in  pursuits  of  commerce,  manufactures, 
mechanic  arts,  and  agriculture,  have  a  right  to  demand  of  the 
Government  that  it  shall  meet,  without  evasion,  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  time,  and  enable  them,  without  following  the  con- 
stant changes  of  partisanship,  to  hold  their  servants  to  an 
immediate  and  direct  responsibility." 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  how  closely  Mr.  Banks  has 
been  connected  with  Americanism  in  Massachusetts. 
It  is  very  certain  that  he  used  Americanism,  and  that 
he  guided  it,  but  to  what  extent  he  has  adopted,  at 
any  time,  its  doctrines,  we  cannot  say.  It  has  been 
said  that  Mr.  Banks  was  opposed  to  the  "  Two  Years' 


204  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Amendment "  recently  adopted  by  the  voters  of 
Massachusetts,  but  he  failed  to  show  his  hand  upon 
it  one  way  or  the  other.  The  Americans,  we  believe, 
claim  that  Mr.  Banks  is  one  of  them  in  principle,  but 
upon  what  grounds  we  know  not. 

Mr.  Banks,  though  formerly  a  Democrat,  is  under- 
stood to  be  in  favor  of  a  moderately  protective  tariff. 
He  is,  as  the  extracts  we  have  quoted  show,  de- 
cidedly opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  but  does 
not  occupy,  as  an  opponent  of  slavery,  such  advanced 
ground  as  that  upon  which  Mr.  Seward  stands.  He 
is  opposed  to  agitation  upon  the  slavery  question, 
except  in  self-defence,  while  Mr.  Seward  is  for  battle, 
open  and  decided,  but  constitutional,  till  slavery  is 
driven  from  the  continent. 


JOSEPH    LANE. 

GEN.  LANE  occupies  a  somewhat  prominent  posi- 
tion before  the  country  in  reference  to  the  Presidency. 
Not  because  he  professes  to  be  a  leading  statesman  of 
the  country,  for  it  is  but  recently  that  he  has  become 
a  national  legislator,  or  participated,  to  any  great 
extent,  in  national  politics.  But  possibly  for  this 
very  reason  many  eyes  are  turned  toward  him  as  a 
fit  subject  for  the  suffrages  of  the  Charleston  conven- 
tion. 

Joseph  Lane  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  was 
born  December  14,  1801.  In  1804  his  father  re- 
moved his  family  to  Kentucky,  and  in  1816  young 
Joseph  crossed  the  Ohio,  and  entered  a  store  in 
"Warwick  County,  Indiana.  What  his  opportunities 
were,  in  early  life,  for  education,  we  do  not  learn, 
but  that  they  were  slight  cannot  be  doubted — a  com- 
mon school  education  being  all  that  was  within  his 
reach.  The  rest  he  procured  for  himself  in  the  wide 
school  of  the  world. 

For  several  years  Lane  followed  a  mercantile  life, 
marrying  early,  and  changing  his  residence  to  Yan- 
derberg  County.  He  first  tried  the  paths  of  public 


206  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

life  as  a  member  of  the  Indiana  legislature,  the  peo- 
ple of  "Warwick  and  Vanderberg  counties  liking  him 
so  well  that  they  invited  him  to  become  their  repre- 
.sentative  in  the  State  legislature.  He  proved  him- 
self to  be  a  capable,  and,  indeed,  popular  legislator, 
so  much  so,  that  his  constituents  kept  him  in  the 
Senate  or  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State,  off 
and  on,  for  more  than  twenty  years.  He  was  always 
in  the  legislature  a  manager,  rather  than  a  talker. 
He  has  never  claimed  the  title  of  orator,  for  he  was 
not  bred  to  it,  nor  ever  had  an  aptness  for  it.  But 
he  showed  at  once  that  he  possessed  a  genius  for 
legislation,  and  was  kept  constantly  by  the  people  at 
the  business.  In  the  Indiana  legislature,  he  strenu- 
ously opposed  the  project  of  repudiation  which,  in 
the  dark  days  of  Indiana,  was  supported  by  many  of 
her  citizens  and  politicians.  His  independent  course 
against  the  proposed  measure  of  dishonor,  was  all 
that  saved  the  State  from  the  terrible  step,  and  this 
fact  is  generally  admitted  by  her  people,  irrespective 
of  their  politics. 

The  military  career  of  Gen.  Lane  now  began,  and 
is  sketched  by  one  of  his  friends  in  the  following 
language : 

"  In  the  Mexican  war,  Gen.  Lane  was  among  the 
first  to  respond  to  the  call  for  volunteers,  by  enlisting 
as  a  private  in  the  2d  Indiana  regiment,  of  which  he 
was  subsequently  elected  colonel.  He,  however,  took 


JOSEPH   LANE.  207 

the  field  with  the  rank  of  brigadier  general,  having 
been  commissioned  by  President  Polk,  at  the  solici- 
tation of  the  Indiana  Congressional  delegation.  His 
subsequent  conduct  fully  justified  this  honor.  Soon 
after  reaching  Mexico,  he  was  appointed  by  General 
Butler  civil  and  military  governor  of  Saltillo,  but 
after  the  battle  of  Monterey,  received  orders  to  join 
General  Taylor  with  his  brigade.  He  was  first  under 
fire  at  the  terrible  battle  of  Buena  Yista,  on  the  22d 
and  23d  of  February,  1847,  and  particularly  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  furious  encounters  of  the 
second  day.  "With  a  command  reduced  to  400  men, 
by  details  sent  to  check  a  flank  movement  of  Santa 
Anna,  General  Lane  maintained  the  position  he  occu- 
pied against  an  attack  of  6,000  Mexicans.  It  appears 
almost  incredible  that  he  was  enabled  to  roll  back 
such  an  overwhelming  force.  When  Santa  Anna 
made  his  last  desperate  attack  on  the  Illinois  and 
Kentucky  regiments,  General  Lane,  at  a  critical  mo- 
ment, hastened  to  their  support,  and  his  timely  aid 
enabled  the  column  to  reform  and  return  to  the  con- 
test, and  thus  contributed  largely  to  the  victory  that 
crowned  the  American  arms.  In  September,  1847, 
General  Lane  was  transferred  to  Scott's  line.  On  the 
20th  of  September  he  took  up  his  line  of  march  for 
the  capital  at  the  head  of  a  column  of  volunteers,  in- 
cluding some  horse,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
amounting  in  all  to  about  2,500  men.  On  the  way, 


208  PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES. 

Major  Lally  joined  him  with  1,000  men,  and  at  Jalapa 
his  force  was  further  augmented  by  a  company  of 
mounted  riflemen,  two  companies  of  infantry  (volun- 
teers), and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  At  this  time  the 
gallant  Colonel  Childs,  U.  S.  A.,  was  holding  out 
Puebla,  against  a  siege  conducted  by  Santa  Anna  in 
person.  Foiled  in  this  effort,  the  Mexican  general 
moved  toward  Huamantla,  with  the  purpose  of  attack- 
ing General  Lane's  column  in  the  rear,  simultaneously 
with  another  attack  from  the  direction  of  Puebla. 
But  General  Lane,  who,  throughout  the  campaign, 
exhibited  the  highest  military  qualities,  penetrated 
the  design  of  the  enemy,  and  leaving  a  detachment 
to  guard  the  wagon  trains,  diverged  from  the  main 
road  and  marched  on  to  Huamantla,  which  he  reached 
on  the  9th  of  October.  The  Mexicans,  dismayed  at 
his  unexpected  appearance,  hung  out  white  flags,  and 
the  Americans  began  to  enter  the  city. 

"The  treacherous  Mexicans,  however,  opened  a 
fire  on  his  advanced  guard,  under  Captain  Walker, 
and  a  terrible  contest  took  place  in  the  plaza.  Gene- 
ral Lane,  in  the  meanwhile,  was  engaged  with  the 
reinforcement  brought  up  under  Santa  Anna ;  but 
after  a  furious  battle,  the  Americans  were  victorious, 
and  the  stars  and  stripes  waved  in  triumph  over 
Huamantla.  The  remains  of  the  Mexican  force  fell 
back  on  Atlixo,  where  they  were  rallied  and  rein- 
forced by  General  Kea.  General  Lane,  coming  up 


JOSEPH   LANE.  209 

< 

after  a  long  and  fatiguing  march,  found  the  enemy 
strongly  posted  on  a  hill-side  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  town,  and  immediately  gave  them  battle. 
After  a  desperate  conflict,  the  Mexicans  gave  way, 
and  threw  themselves  into  Atlixo.  At  nightfall, 
General  Lane  established  his  batteries  on  a  com- 
manding eminence,  and  opened  his  fire  on  the  town  ; 
but  the  Mexican  troops  having  retreated,  the  civil 
authorities  immediately  surrendered  the  place,  and 
the  Americans  took  possession  of  it.  Throughout  the 
remainder  of  the  campaign,  General  Lane  was  in 
active  service,  and  contributed  greatly  to  its  fortunate 
issue.  His  operations  exhibited  a  striking  combina- 
tion of  intelligence  and  daring.  With  a  Napoleonic 
celerity  of  movement,  he  appeared  almost  ubiquitous. 
Wherever  and  whenever  his  presence  was  most 
needed,  then  and  there  did  the  '  Marion  of  the  Mexi- 
can war '  make  his  appearance.  The  long  marches 
executed  by  his  command  excited  the  admiration  of 
military  men  as  much  as  their  chivalric  daring  in  the 
field.  General  Lane  succeeded  in  infusing  into  his 
troops  his  own  spirit  of  patient  toil  and  brilliant 
valor.  After  marching  many  leagues  under  a  broil- 
ing sun,  reflected  from  arid  plains  and  rocks,  through 
rugged  defiles  and  lonely  valleys,  the  presence  of  the 
enemy  always  found  them  ready  to  rush  into  battle, 
resistless  and  undaunted.  Far  away  from  the  scenes 
of  strife,  we  read  of  General  Lane's  exploits  with 


210  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

mingled  admiration  and  astonishment,  and  the  barba- 
rous names  of  Tlascala,  Matamaros,  Galaxa,  Tulau- 
cin«-o,  became  *  familiar  in  our  mouths  as  household 

O     > 

words,'  when  illustrated  by  the  valor  of  the  Ameri- 
can general.  The  story  of  his  deeds  read  like  a 
romance,  and  there  was  that  in  the  character  of 
the  gallant  volunteer  which  enlisted  the  warmest 
sympathy.  He  was  the  true  type  of  the  Ameri- 
can citizen  soldier,  abandoning  the  tranquil  delights 
of  home,  and  the  honors  of  a  civic  career,  for  the 
toils  and  dangers  of  war,  at  the  call  of  his  country, 
and  learning  the  military  art  by  its  exercise.  To 
the  fiery  and  impetuous  valor  which  distinguishes 
the  French  soldier,  General  Lane  united  the  stern 
resolution  which  characterized  the  old  Roman  war- 
rior, but  he  repudiated  the  Roman  military  maxim, 
'  Woe  to  the  vanquished !'  as  unworthy  of  an  American 
officer.  The  wounded  enemy  received  as  much  atten- 
tion at  his  hands  as  a  wounded  comrade,  and  as  he 
had  communicated  to  his  men  his  spirit  of  endurance 
and  valor,  so  he  impressed  them  by  his  example  of 
humanity  and  moderation  in  victory.  In  July,  1848, 
General  Lane  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  was 
appointed  by  President  Polk,  Territorial  Governor  of 
Oregon.  After  a  perilous  journey,  he  reached  his 
post  in  March,  1849,  and  immediately  organized  the 
government.  After  being  superseded  by  Governor 
Gaines,  under  Taylor's  administration,  he  was  elected 


JOSEPH   LANE.  211 

by  the  people  of  Oregon,  with  whom  he  was  univer- 
sally popular,  as  delegate  to  Congress.  In  1853,  the 
outrages  of  the  Indians  in  the  southern  part  of  Ore- 
gon, called  him  once  more  to  the  field  at  the  head  of 
a  small  force  of  volunteers  and  regular  troops,  and 
after  a  desperate  battle  near  Table  Rock,  in  which  he 
was  severely  wounded,  he  succeeded  in  forcing  them 
into  submission  and  peace." 

General  Lane  labored  faithfully  to  bring  Oregon 
into  the  Union,  and  at  last  succeeded,  for  in  Febru- 
ary, 1859,  the  Oregon  bill  passed  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  he  having  been  elected  senator  of  the 
young  State  took  his  seat  in  that  body,  and  chose  the 
long,  or  six  years'  term. 

General  Lane  has  taken  little  part,  as  we  have  said, 
in  the  recent  party  politics  of  the  day,  though,  in  the 
winter  of  1857-8,  he  did  make  a  speech  in  defence 
of  the  Lecornpton  Constitution.  He  was  not  how- 
ever ultra  in  his  sentiments.  We  quote  his  speech, 
which  was  short,  on  the  admission  of  Oregon  into 
the  Union.  It  will  be  seen  that  portions  of  the 
speech  relate  to  General  Lane's  personal  history : 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  not  yet  had  an  opportunity  of 
addressing  myself  to  the  House  in  behalf  of  the  admission 
of  Oregon.  It  is  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  to  the 
people  of  that  territory,  and  of  the  whole  country.  I 
would  not  now  trespass  on  the  tune  of  the  House,  were  it 
not  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  personal  explanation. 

"  I  find  in  the  '  Oregon  Statesman,'  a  paper  published  at 


212  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

\ 

Salem,  Oregon,  a  letter  purporting  to  have  been  written 
from  this  city,  bearing  date  the  Itth  of  June  last,  in  which 
it  is  charged  that  I  had  managed  to  prevent  action  on  the 
admission  bill,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining»double  mileage  if 
elected  to  the  Senate.  If  that  letter  had  not  been  published 
in  a  Democratic  paper,  I  would  not  have  noticed  it ;  but  as 
it  has  been,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say,  that  if  the  letter  was 
written  here,  the  writer  of  that  letter  knew  very  little  about 
me. 

"  Money,  I  thank  God,  has  not  been  a  consideration  with 
me  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duty.  It  has  had  no  influ- 
ence over  my  action,  official,  moral,  political,  or  social.  I  have 
never  coveted  money.  I  desire  only  the  reputation  of  an 
honest  man  ;  and  that  I  intend  to  deserve  always,  as  I  have 
deserved  hertofore  that  reputation.  I  did  all  I  could  to 
bring  Oregon  in  ;  and  when  I  found  we  could  not,  I  said  to 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  said  to  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the 
Senate,  I  said  to  the  Sergeant-at-Arn^s  of  the  House,  that 
if  elected  and  admitted  to  the  Senate,  I  would  not  take 
double  mileage,  or  doable  compensation.  Throughout  all 
my  official  action,  I  have  studied  the  strictest  principles  of 
economy  toward  the  Government.  When  I  was  appointed 
Governor  of  Oregon  territory,  in  1848,  I  paid  for  my  own 
outfit,  and  travelled  across  the  plains  to  the  territory  of 
Oregon  without  the  cost  to  the  Government  of  a  single  cent. 
When  I  arrived  at  San  Francisco,  I  had  to  make  the  trip 
from  there  to  Oregon  by  water.  I  had  run  out  of  money, 
and  I  borrowed  enough  to  pay  my  passage  to  Oregon  City, 
and  I  paid  it  as  soon  as  I  earned  it  out  of  my  salary. 
Though  I  was  offered  a  free  passage  by  the  quartermaster, 
who  went  out  in  the  same  vessel  with  a  small  detachment  of 
troops,  and  who  thought  I  was  entitled  to  a  free  passage, 
yet  I  declined  to  accept  the  offer. 

"  Then,  in  the  discharge  of  my  duties  of  Governor,  in  the 
management  of  Indian  affairs,  I  can  say,  that,  for  the  small- 


JOSEPH   LANE.  213 

ness  of  those  expenses,  there  is  no  parallel  to  ray  administra- 
tion in  that  respect.  During  the  time  I  was  Governor  of  Ore- 
gon, and  ex  offido  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  I  visited 
fifty-odd  tribes  of  Indians,  and  gave  them  presents,  small  in 
amount,  it  is  true,  but  such  as  were  necessary  to  keep  them 
in  a  good  disposition  toward  the  whites  ;  and  that  for  the 
whole  amount  of  expenses  in  travelling,  I  made  not  a  cent 
of  charge.  My  accounts  show  not  a  single  charge  against 
the  Government ;  and  the  whole  amount  of  expense,  of 
whatever  nature,  for  the  whole  eighteen  months  that  I 
visited  those  tribes  tribes  of  Indians,  was  less  than  three 
thousand  dollars.  I  mention  these  things  in  the  way  of  a 
personal  explanation  against  the  charges  of  a  letter-writer. 

"  MR.  KILGORE. — I  wish  to  ask  the  gentleman  from  Oregon 
a  question.  I  understood  him  to  remark  that  he  would  not 
have  noticed  the  matter  had  it  been  published  in  a  Re- 
publican paper.  Will  the  gentleman  let  us  know  why  he 
would  not  have  noticed  it  if  it  had  been  published  in  a  re- 
spectable Republican  newspaper  ?" 

"MR.  LANE. — The  Republican  papers  have  taken  the 
liberty  so  often  of  giving  me  so  many  hard  raps  that  I  have 
got  used  to  it,  and  I  would  not  have  taken  it  to  heart.  But 
this  appears  hi  a  Democratic  paper,  and  in  a  paper  that  has 
had  the  Government  public  printing.  This  is  a  fire  in  the 
rear  that  I  do  not  like. 

"  I  will  say  this  :  that  I  have  had  no  cause  of  complaint 
of  letter-writers  since  I  have  been  a  delegate  upon  this  floor. 
Very  few  of  them  have  taken  the  trouble  to  notice  me  favor- 
ably, and  I  am  sure  I  never  should  desire  them  to  notice  me 
unfavorably  ;  but  I  will  say  in  vindication,  or  rather  to  the 
credit  of  the  letter-writers  in  this  city,  that  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  letter  was  written  in  Washington.  I  believe  it 
was  written  in  Oregon  territory,  and  with  a  view,  in  my 
absence,  to  affect  my  character  as  a  public  servant  and  as  an 
honest  man,  and  with  a  view  to  prejudice  the  admission  of 


214:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Oregon  ;  and  perhaps  in  order  that  the  editor  of  this  Demo- 
cratic paper  might  still  have  the  benefit  of  his  thousands  of 
dollars  annually  for  the  public  printing. 

"  I  have  said  this  much  about  the  letter-writers  ;  and  now 
I  must  be  allowed,  as  I  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  the  ad- 
mission of  Oregon,  to  say  a  few  words  upon  this  subject. 

"  MR.  GOOCH. — I  wish  to  ask  the  gentleman  from  Oregon 
if,  in  case  Oregon  is  admitted  and  he  has  a  vote  at  either 
end  of  this  Capitol,  he  will  vote  to  relieve  Kansas  from  the 
effect  of  the  English  bill,  so  called,  and  let  her  present  her- 
self for  admission  when  she  chooses  ? 

"  MR.  LANE. — I  do  not  come  here  to  make  any  bargain, 
contract,  or  promises.  I  am  an  honest  man ;  and  if  I  am  per- 
mitted to  go  into  the  Senate  I  shall  exercise  a  sound  dis- 
cretion and  judgment,  and  with  a  strong  desire  to  promote 
the  general  good,  prosperity  and  welfare  of  a  country  that  I 
love  more  than  life  ;  and  I  believe  that  my  official  action 
through  life  is  a  guaranty  that  in  all  matters  I  will  do  what 
I  believe  to  be  right. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  Oregon  territory  is  peculiarly  situ- 
ated. I  think  if  there  ever  was  a  case  in  this  country  where 
a  people  were  entitled  to  the  care,  the  protection,  and  aid  of 
this  Government,  it  is  the  people  of  that  territory.  They 
went  out  there  at  a  very  early  day.  I  heard  with  pleasure, 
from  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  House,  a  partial 
history  of  the  early  settlement  of  that  country.  As  early  as 
1832,  1833,  and  1834,  and  from  that  time  down  to  1839 
and  1840,  the  missionary  societies  of  this  country  took  it 
into  their  heads  very  wisely  to  establish  missionaries  upon 
the  Pacific.  They  sent  out  good  and  educated  men,  men 
who  had  a  strong  desire  to  civilize  the  savages,  to  inculcate 
religious  principles  among  them,  and  encourage  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  civilization.  Their  missions  were  assisted  by 
many,  old  trappers,  who,  though  they  had  spent  many  years 
in  the  mountains,  in  pursuit  of  game  and  furs,  were  yet  men 


JOSEPH   LANE.  215 

who  had  noble  and  pure  hearts,  and  who  readily  offered  such 
aid  and  assistance  as  was  in  their  power.  Settlements 
grew  up  around  the  missionary  posts.  Every  effort  was  put 
forth  by  these  good  people  to  influence  the  habits  of  the 
savages.  They  were  urged  to  be  led  upon  the  paths  of 
Christianity  and  civilization. 

"  In  1841,  these  settlements  had  been  extended  all  over  the 
country,  and  their  welfare  depended  upon  order  and  good 
government.  They,  therefore,  organized  themselves  into  a 
temporary  provisional  government.  A  board  was  appointed 
to  enact  laws,  and  judges  were  selected  for  the  decision  of  all 
matters  in  dispute.  That  provisional  government  continued 
until  1843,  when  a  regular  form  of  government  was  adopted. 
George  Abernethy  was  elected  Governor.  A  Legislative 
Assembly  was  created,  judges  were  appointed,  and  all  the 
operations  of  a  government  went  on  as  smoothly  as  they  do 
in  any  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States.  A  post-office 
department  was  established,  and  mail  service  was  performed 
throughout  the  territory.  Communication  thus  was  kept  up 
with  all  sections  of  the  Union  and  Oregon.  That  govern- 
ment continued  until  1848,  when,  by  act  of  Congress,  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  were  extended  over  Oregon,  and 
a  territorial  government  was  voted  to  her.  When  I  arrived 
there,  in  the  winter  of  1848,  I  found  the  provisional  govern- 
ment I  have  referred  to,  working  beautifully.  Peace  and 
plenty  blessed  the  hills  and  vales,  and  harmony  and  quiet, 
under  the  benign  influence  of  that  government,  reigned 
supreme  throughout  her  borders.  I  thought  that  it  was 
almost  a  pity  to  disturb  the  existing  relations — to  put  that 
government  down  and  another  up.  Yet  they  came  out  to 
meet  me,  their  first  Governor  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States.  They  told  me  how  proud  they  were  to  be  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  ;  and  how  glad  they  were  to  wel- 
come me  as  holding  the  commission  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment. Why,  sir,  my  heart  waxed  warm  to  them  from  that  day. 


210  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  can  any  man  upon  this  floor  reconcile  it  with 
the  common  dictates  of  justice  to  deny  to  this  people  a  State 
government  ?  They  are  law-abiding  ;  they  have  population  ; 
they  are  competent  for  self-government  :  wherein  is  it  that 
they  are  deficient  ?  My  friend  from  Tennessee  [Mr.  Zolli- 
coffer]  said  that  he  voted  for  Kansas  because  of  fear  of  dis- 
turbances ;  because,  forsooth,  they  were  outlaws  and  bad 
men.  Would  not  that  be  a  reward  for  defiance  of  the 
law? 

"  MR.  ZOLLICOFFER. — The  statement  of  the  gentleman  from 
Oregon  does  me  a  great  injustice.  On  the  Kansas  question 
there  was  great  excitement,  connected  with  the  question  of 
slavery,  which  agitated  the  public  mind  of  the  whole  Union 
to  such  an  extent  that  I  regarded  it  my  duty  to  aid  to  bring 
Kansas  into  the  Union,  and  at  once  settle  the  agitation 
attaching  to  that  territory.  This  consideration  was,  to  my 
mind,  paramount  to  that  of  population. 

"  MR.  DAVIS,  of  Mississippi. — I  desire  to  ask  the  gentleman 
from  Oregon  whether,  from  his  knowledge  of  the  country, 
he  believes  there  are  ninety-three  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty  people  there  ? 

"  MR.  LANE. — I  do.  From  my  knowledge  of  the  country, 
from  the  rapid  increase  of  population  there,  I  believe  that 
there  are  ninety-three  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty 
inhabitants  there  ;  ninety-three  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty  white  people,  no  Chinamen  or  negroes  counted.  I 
am  not  only  satisfied  of  that,  but  I  can  show,  I  think,  that 
Oregon,  before  the  apportionment  in  1870,  will  stand  here 
with  her  representatives  representing  three  hundred  thousand 
people. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  she  comes  here  with  a  constitution  regu- 
larly framed,  and  adopted  by  her  people.  It  is  the  wish  of 
those  people  that  they  shall  assume  the  responsibilities  of 
State  government.  Are  they  not  entitled  to  it  ?  Kow  I 
would  ask  the  friends  of  her  admission  to  vote  down  all 


JOSEPH   LANE.  217 

amendments.  If  the  bill  is  to  stand,  let  it  stand  as  it  came 
from  the  Senate.  If  it  is  to  fall,  then  let  it  fall  upon  that 
bill.  Do  not  refuse  her  request  by  indirection  ;  let  the 
issue  bo  fairly  and  openly  made.  She  has  been  fair  and 
honest  in  her  dealings  with  us,  and  why  should  we  be  other- 
wise to  her  ?  My  northern  friends  will  believe  me  when  I 
say  that  the  rights  of  every  State  of  the  Union  are  as  dear 
to  me  as  those  of  Oregon.  If  I  have  a  seat  in  Congress,  I 
will  be,  at  all  times,  prompt  to  resent  any  trespass  on  the 
rights  of  the  States  as  secured  by  the  Constitution.  My 
affection  rests  on  every  inch  of  this  Union — East  and  "West, 
North  anJ  8  rath.  The  promotion  of  the  prospsrity  of  this 
great  country  is  the  strongest  desire  of  my  heart.  I  then 
ask  gentlemen,  on  all  sides  of  the  House,  on  what  principle 
of  justice  or  right,  the  application  of  Oregon  can  be  refused  ?" 

In  his  personal  appearance  Mr.  Lane  is  dignified 
and  commanding.  He  is  uniformly  good  natured 
and  his  intimate  friends  assert  that  in  his  judgments 
of  men  and  political  parties  he  is  very  fair.  He  is 
tall,  with  a  fine  forehead,  greyish  hair,  and  florid 
complexion.  ^As  a  speaker,  we  have  remarked,  he  is 
not  distinguished,  though  he  is  perfectly  at  his  ease 
while  delivering  a  speech  in  Congress. 


10 


JOHN  McLEAN. 

JOHN  McLEAN,  or  rather  Judge  McLean — for  by 
the  last  name  he  is  everywhere  known — has  been 
member  of  Congress,  Post  Master-General,  General 
Land  Office  Commissioner,  Judge  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  and  finally  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  "We  can  add  that  the  man 
so  prominent,  so  successful,  is  worthy  of  all  his 
advancement,  for  he  has  ever  been  a  man  of  un- 
swerving integrity,  and  of  lofty  character.  He  was 
born  in  Morris  County,  New  Jersey,  on  the  llth  of 
March,  1785.  Four  years  later,  his  father,  who  was 
poor,  removed  to  the  "West — first  to  Morganstown, 
Virginia,  next  to  Jessamine,  Kentucky,  and  finally  to 
what  is  now  Warren  County,  Ohio.  This  was  then  a 
wild  country,  and  the  hardy  pioneer  went  at  work 
and  cleared  up  a  farm  in  it,  whereon  he  resided  forty 
years,  and  died  in  the  home  which  he  had  made  in 
the  wilderness.  Here,  too,  lived  John  McLean,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  and  worked  upon  the  farm 
which  he  afterward  owned.  There  were  few  oppor- 
tunities within  his  reach  to  obtain  a  good  education 
— this  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  centtiry — 

218 


JOHN  MCLEAN.  219 

but  to  such  schools  as  were  to  be  found  near  home 
he  was  sent,  and  made  such  rapid  progress  that  when 
he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  he  was  put  under  the 
care  of  a  neighboring  clergyman  that  he  might  study 
the  languages,  and  as  his  father's  means  were  still 
somewhat  limited,  he  entirely  supported  himself  and 
paid  his  tuition  expenses  by  his  labor.     He  was  al- 
ready ambitious,  and  determined  to  study  the  law. 
When  he  was   eighteen  years    old,   he    made    an 
engagement  to  write  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Hamilton 
County,  in  Cincinnati,  and  entered  the  law  office  of 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  then  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Cin- 
cinnati.    His  writing  in  the  clerk's  office  supported 
him,  though  he  was  obliged  to  practise  the  closest 
economy.     He  took  part  in  a  debating  society,  and 
by  practice  fitted  himself  for  his  future  business.     In 
the  spring  of  1807,  he  married  a  Miss  Edwards — be- 
fore he  was  admitted  to  the  bar — which  was  doubtless 
in  the  eyes  of  all  his  prudent  friends  a  very  foolish 
act.     But  so  it  did  not  turn  out  to  be.     Miss  Edwards 
made  him  an  excellent  wife,  and  the  early  marriage 
saved  him  from  vice  and  dissipation  into  which  so 
many  young  men  of  his  profession  plunge  at  his  age. 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  McLean  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  and  returned  to  Warren   County, 
where  he  speedily  secured  a  large  legal  business. 

In  1812,  he  became  a  candidate  for  Congress,  his 
district  then  including  Cincinnati.     He  had  two  com- 


220  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

petitors,  but  was  chosen  by  a  large  majority.     One 
of  his  friends  writes  : 

"  From  bis  first  entrance  upon  public  life,  John 
McLean  was  identified  witb  the  Democratic  party. 
He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  war,  and  of  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Madison,  yet  not  a  blind  ad- 
vocate of  every  measure  proposed  by  the  party,  as 
the  journals  of  that  period  will  show.  His  votes 
were  all  given  in  reference  to  principle.  The  idea 
of  supporting  a  dominant  party,  merely  because 
it  was  dominant,  did  not  influence  his  judgment, 
or  withdraw  him  from  the  high  path  of  duty  which 
he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  He  was  well 
aware,  that  the  association  of  individuals  into  parties 
was  sometimes  absolutely  necessary  to  the  prosecu- 
tion and  accomplishment  of  any  great  public  mea- 
sure. This  he  supposed  was  sufficient  to  induce  the 
members  composing  them,  on  any  little  difference 
with  the  majority,  to  sacrifice  their  own  judgment  to 
that  of  the  greater  number,  and  to  distrust  their  own 
opinions  when  they  were  in  contradiction  to  the  gene- 
ral  views  of  the  party.  But  as  party  was  thus  to  be 
regarded  as  itself,  only  an  instrument  for  the  attain- 
ment of  some  great  public  good,  the  instrument 
should  not  be  raised  into  greater  importance  than  the 
end,  nor  any  clear  and  undoubted  principle  of  mor- 
ality be  violated  for  the  sake  of  adherence  to  party. 
Mr.  McLean  often  voted  against  political  friends; 


JOHN  MCLEAN.  221 

yet  so  highly  were  both  his  integrity  and  judgment 
estimated,  that  no  one  of  the  Democratic  party 
separated  himself  from  him  on  that  account.  ~Nor 
did  his  independent  course  in  the  smallest  degree 
diminish  the  weight  he  had  acquired  among  his  own 
constituents. 

"Among  the  measures  supported  by  him,  were  the 
tax  bills  of  the  extra  session  at  which  he  first  entered 
Congress.  He  originated  the  law  to  indemnify  indi- 
viduals for  property  lost  in  the  public  service.  A 
resolution  instructing  the  proper  committee  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  giving  pensions  to  the  widows 
of  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  their 
country's  service,  was  introduced  by  him ;  and  the 
measure  was  afterward  sanctioned  by  Congressional 
enactment.  By  an  able  speech  he  defended  the  war 
measures  of  the  administration  ;  and  by  the  diligent 
discharge  of  his  duties  in  respect  to  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  country,  and  the  interests  of  his  people 
and  district,  he  continued  to  rise  in  public  estimation. 
In  1814,  he  was  re-elected  to  Congress  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  his  district,  receiving  not  only  every 
vote  cast  in  the  district  for  representative,  but  every 
voter  that  attended  the  polls  voted  for  him — a  cir- 
cumstance that  has  rarely  occurred  in  the  political 
history  of  any  man.  His  position  as  a  member  of 
the  committee  of  foreign  relations  and  of  the  public 
lands,  indicates  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held, 


222  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

and  his  familiarity  with  the  important  questions  of 
foreign  and  domestic  policy  which  were  in  agitation 
during  the  eventful  period  of  his  membership." 

In  1815,  he  was  urgently  solicited  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  the  U.  S.  Senate,  but  he  declined.  He 
was. then  but  thirty  years  of  age.  In  1816,  he  was 
unanimously  elected  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  state  of  Ohio  and  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress. 
While  in  Congress  he  voted  for  a  bill  giving  to  each 
member  a  salary  of  $1,500  a  year  instead  of  the  per 
diem  allowance. 

Judge  McLean  presided  on  the  bench  in  Ohio  for 
six  years,  during  which  time  he  won  for  himself  an 
enviable  judicial  reputation.  In  1822,  he  was 
appointed  commissioner  of  the  general  Land  Office 
by  President  Monroe ;  and  in  1823,  he  entered  the 
cabinet  as  Postmaster  General.  As  Postmaster 
General  he  secured  a  fine  reputation,  improving  its 
finances  and  in  every  possible  way  improving  the 
postal  facilities  of  the  country.  By  an  almost  unani- 
mous vote  of  Congress  his  salary  was  increased  from 
$4,000  to  $6,000. 

"  The  distribution  of  the  public  patronage  of  his 
department  exhibited  in  another  respect  his  qualities 
as  an  executive  officer,  and  manifested  the  rule  of 
action  that  has  always  marked  his  character.  The 
principle  upon  which  executive  patronage  should  be 
distributed,  has  been  one  of  the  most  important 


JOHN  MCLEAN.  223 

questions  in  this  government,  and  has  presented  the 
widest  variation  between  the  profession  and  practice 
of  individuals  and  parties.  In  the  administration  of 
the  post-office  department  by  Judge  McLean,  an 
example  was  presented  in  strict  consistence  with 
sound  principles  of  republican  government,  and  just 
party  organization.  During  the  whole  time  that  the 
affairs  of  the  department  were  administered  by  the 
judge,  he  had  necessarily  a  difficult  part  to  act.  The 
country  was  divided  into  two  great  parties,  animated 
by  the  most  determined  spirit  of  rivalry,  and  each 
bent  on  advancing  itself  to  the  lead  of  public  affairs. 
A  question  was  now  started,  whether  it  was  proper 
to  make  political  opinions  the  test  of  qualification  for 
office.  Such  a  principle  had  been  occasionally  acted 
upon  during  the  preceding  periods  of  our  history ; 
but  so  rarely,  as  to  constitute  the  exception,  rather 
than  the  rule.  It  had  never  become  the  settled  and 
systematic  course  of  conduct  of  any  public  officer. 
Doubtless  every  one  is  bound  to  concede  something 
to  the  temper  and  opinions  of  the  party  to  which  he 
belongs,  otherwise  party  would  be  an  association  with- 
out any  connecting  bond  of  alliance. 

"  But  no  man  is  permitted  to  infringe  any  one  of 
the  great  rules  of  morality  and  justice,  for  the  sake 
of  subserving  the  interests  of  his  party.  It  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated,  nor  too  strongly  impressed  upon 
the  public  men  of  America,  that  nothing  is  easier 


224:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

than  to  reconcile  these  two  apparently  conflicting 
views.  The  meaning  of  party,  is  an  association  of 
men  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  public  inter- 
ests. Men  thrown  together  indiscriminately,  without 
any  common  bond  of  alliance,  would  be  able  to 
achieve  nothing  great  and  valuable ;  while  united 
together,  to  lend  each  other  mutual  support  and  assis- 
tance, they  are  able  to  surmount  the  greatest  obsta- 
cles, and  to  accomplish  the  most  important  ends. 
This  is  the  true  notion  of  party.  It  imports  com- 
bined action  ;  but  does  not  imply  any  departure  from 
the  great  principles  of  truth  and  honesty.  So  long  as 
the  structure  of  the  human  mind  is  so  varied  in  dif- 
ferent individuals,  there  will  always  be  a  wide  scope 
for  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  public  measures ;  ^>ut 
no  foundation  is  yet  laid  in  the  human  mind  for  any 
material  difference  of  opinion,  as  to  what  constitutes 
the  great  rule  of  justice. 

"  The  course  which  was  pursued  by  Judge  McLean 
was  marked  by  the  greatest  wisdom  and  moderation. 
Believing  that  every  public  oflicer  holds  his  office  in 
trust  for  the  people,  he  determined  to  be  influenced 
by  no  other  principle  in  the  discharge  of  his  public 
duties,  than  a  faithful  performance  of  the  trust  com- 
mitted to  him.  No  individual  was  removed  from 
office  by  him,  on  account  of  his  political  opinions. 
In  making  appointments  where  the  claims  and  quali- 
fications of  persons  were  equal,  and  at  the  same  time 


JOHN   Me  LEAN.  225 

one  was  known  to  be  friendly  to  the  administration, 
he  felt  himself  bound  to  appoint  the  one  who  was 
his  friend.  But  when  persons  were  recommended  to 
office,  it  was  not  the  practice  to  name,  as  a  recom- 
mendation, that  they  had  been  or  were  warm  sup- 
porters of  the  dominant  power.  In  all  such  cases, 
the  man  who  was  believed  to  be  the  best  qualified 
was  selected  by  the  department." 

In  1829,  General  Jackson  appointed  Mr.  McLean 
to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  he  having  previously  declined  the  War  and 
Navy  Departments,  although  the  two  men  differed 
somewhat  in  their  ideas  of  public  policy.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1830,  he  took  his  seat  upon  the  bench,  and  since 
that  time  the  only  indications  of  Judge  McLean's 
opinions  on  the  political  issues  of  modern  times  which 
the  public  could  notice,  have  been  afforded  by  his 
published  decisions  involving  the  question  of  slavery. 
Some  years  since,  the  private  friends  of  Judge 
McLean  were  aware  that  he  sympathized  very  deeply 
with  the  Anti-Slavery  reformers  of  the  "West  and 
North,  and  that  he  did  not  approve  of  the  political 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  as  laid  down  in 
their  regular  platforms,  on  this  subject.  He  may  be 
safely  set  down  as  a  conservative  opponent  of  negro 
slavery,  and  its  extension  into  the  territories  of  the 
republic.  In  the  last  Presidential  election  he  voted 
for  John  C.  Fremont,  which  would  seem  to  settle  the 

10* 


226  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

question  as  to  his  political  affinities.     He  is  a  Repub- 
lican. 

From  Judge  McLean's  opinion,  delivered  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  we  gather  his  views  upon  some  of 
the  more  prominent  political  issues  of  the  day : 

"  As  to  the  locality  of  slavery.  The  civil  law  throughout 
the  continent  of  Europe,  it  is  believed,  without  an  exception, 
is,  that  slavery  can  exist  only  within  the  territory  where  it  is 
established;  and  that,  if  a  slave  escapes,  or  is  carried  beyond 
such  territory,  his  master  cannot  reclaim  him,  unless  by  vir- 
tue of  some  express  stipulation. 

"There  is  no  nation  in  Europe  which  considers  itself  bound 
to  return  to  his  master  a  fugitive  slave,  under  the  civil  law 
or  the  law  of  nations.  On  the  contrary,  the  slave  is  held  to 
be  free  where  there  is  no  treaty  obligation,  or  compact  in 
some  other  form,  to  return  him  to  his  master.  The  Roman 
law  did  not  allow  freedom  to  be  sold.  An  ambassador  or 
any  other  public  functionary  could  not  take  a  slave  to  France, 
Spain,  or  any  other  country  in  Europe,  without  emancipating 
him.  A  number  of  slaves  escaped  from  a  Florida  plantation, 
and  were  received  on  board  of  ship  by  Admiral  Cochrane; 
by  the  King's  Bench,  they  were  held  to  be  free. 

In  the  great  and  leading  case  of  Prigg  v.  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  this  court  say  that,  by  the  general  law  of  na- 
tions, no  nation  is  bound  to  recognize  the  state  of  slavery,  as 
found  within  its  territorial  dominions,  where  it  is  in  opposi- 
tion to  its  own  policy  and  institutions,  in  favor  of  the  subjects 
of  other  nations  where  slavery  is  organized.  If  it  does  it,  it 
is  as  a  matter  of  comity,  and  not  as  a  matter  of  international 
right.  The  state  of  slavery  is  deemed  to  be  a  mere  muni- 
cipal regulation,  founded  upon  and  limited  to  the  range  of 
the  territorial  laws.  This  was  fully  recognized  in  Somerset's 
case,  which  was  decided  before  the  American  Revolution. 


JOHN   Mo  LEAN.  227 

"  There  was  some  contrariety  of  opinion  among  the  judges 
on  certain  points  ruled  in  Prigg's  case,  but  there  was  none 
in  regard  to  the  great  principle,  that  slavery  is  limited  to  the 
range  of  the  laws  under  which  it  is  sanctioned. 

"  No  case  in  England  appears  to  have  been  more 
thoroughly  examined  than  that  of  Somerset.  The  judg- 
ment pronounced  by  Lord  Mansfield  was  the  judgment  of  the 
Court  of  King's  Bench.  The  cause  was  argued  at  great 
length,  and  with  great  ability,  by  Hargrave  and  others,  who 
stood  among  the  most  eminent  counsel  in  England.  It  was 
held  under  advisement  from  term  to  term,  and  a  due  sense  of 
its  importance  was  felt  and  expressed  by  the  Bench. 

"  In  giving  the  opinion  of  the  court,  Lord  Mansfield  said: 

"  '  The  state  of  slavery  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  in- 
capable of  being  introduced  on  any  reasons,  moral  or  politi- 
cal, but  only  by  positive  law,  which  preserves  its  force  long 
after  the  reasons,  occasion,  and  time  itself,  from  whence  it 
was  created,  are  erased  from  the  memory ;  it  is  of  a  nature  that 
nothing  can  be  suffered  to  support  it  but  positive  law.' " 

In  relation  to  the  connection  between  the  Federal 
Government  and  slavery,  Judge  McLean  remarks  : 

"The  only  connection  which  the  Federal  Government 
holds  with  slaves  in  a  State,  arises  from  that  provision  in  the 
Constitution  which  declares  that  '  No  person  held  to  service 
or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de- 
livered up,  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due.' 

"  This  being  a  fundamental  law  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, it  rests  mainly  for  its  execution,  as  has  been  held,  on 
the  judicial  power  of  the  Union;  and  so  far  as  the  rendition 
of  fugitives  from  labor  has  become  a  subject  of  judicial 


228  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

action,  the  federal  obligation  has  been  faithfully  dis- 
charged. 

"  In  the  formation  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  care  was 
taken  to  confer  no  power  on  the  Federal  Government  to  in- 
terfere with  this  institution  in  the  States.  In  the  provisions 
respecting  the  slave  trade,  in  fixing  the  ratio  of  representa- 
tion, and  providing  for  the  reclamation  of  fugitives  from 
labor,  slaves  were  referred  to  as  persons,  and  in  no  other  re- 
spect are  they  considered  in  the  Constitution. 

"  We  need  not  refer  to  the  mercenary  spirit  which  intro- 
duced the  infamous  traffic  in  slaves,  to  show  the  degradation 
of  negro  slavery  in  our  country.  This  system  was  imposed 
upon  our  colonial  settlements  by  the  mother  country,  and  it 
is  due  to  truth  to  say  that  the  commercial  colonies  and 
States  were  chiefly  engaged  in  the  traffic.  But  we  know  as 
a  historical  fact,  that  James  Madison,  that  great  and  good 
man,  a  leading  member  in  the  Federal  Convention,  was 
solicitous  to  guard  the  language  of  that  instrument  so  as  not 
to  convey  the  idea  that  there  could  be  property  in  man. 

"  I  prefer  the  lights  of  Madison,  Hamilton,  and  Jay,  as  a 
means  of  construing  the  Constitution  in  all  its  bearings, 
rather  than  to  look  behind  that  period,  into  a  traffic  which 
is  now  declared  to  be  piracy,  and  punished  with  death  by 
Christian  nations.  I  do  not  like  to  draw  the  sources  of  our 
domestic  relations  from  so  dark  a  ground.  Our  independence 
was  a  great  epoch  in  the  history  of  freedom  ;  and  while  I 
admit  the  Government  was  not  made  especially  for  the 
colored  race,  yet  many  of  them  were  citizens  of  the  New 
England  States,  and  exercised  the  rights  of  suffrage  when 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  it  was  not  doubted  by 
any  intelligent  person  that  its  tendencies  would  greatly 
ameliorate  their  condition. 

"  Many  of  the  States,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
or  shortly  afterward,  took  measures  to  abolish  slavery  within 
their  respective  jurisdictions  ;  and  it  is  a  well-known  fact 


JOHN  Mo  LEAK.  229 

that  a  belief  was  cherished  by  the  leading  men,  South  as 
well  as  North,  that  the  institution  of  slavery  would  gradually 
decline,  until  it  would  become  extinct.  The  increased  value 
of  slave  labor,  in  the  culture  of  cotton  and  sugar,  prevented 
the  realization  of  this  expectation.  Like  all  other  commu- 
nities and  States,  the  South  were  influenced  by  what  they 
considered  to  be  their  own  interests. 

"  But  if  we  are  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  dark  ages  of 
the  world,  why  confine  our  view  to  colored  slavery  ?  On 
the  same  principles,  white  men  were  made  slaves.  All 
slavery  has  its  origin  in  power,  and  is  against  right." 

In  reference  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  territories,  we  quote  the  subjoined  par- 
agraphs from  Judge  McLean's  opinion  : 

"  On  the  13th  of  July,  the  ordinance  of  1187  was  passed, 
'  for  the  government  of  the  United  States  territory  northwest 
of  the  river  Ohio/  with  but  one  dissenting  vote.  This  instru- 
ment provided  there  should  be  organized  in  the  territory  not 
less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  States,  designating  their 
boundaries.  It  was  passed  while  the  federal  convention  was 
in  session,  about  two  months  before  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  by  the  convention.  The  members  of  the  convention 
must  therefore  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  provisions 
of  the  ordinance.  It  provided  for  a  temporary  government, 
as  initiatory  to  the  formation  of  State  governments.  Slavery 
was  prohibited  in  the  territory. 

"  Can  any  one  suppose  that  the  eminent  men  of  the  federal 
convention  could  have  overlooked  or  neglected  a  matter  so 
vitally  important  to  the  country,  in  the  organization  of  tem- 
porary governments  for  the  vast  territory  northwest  of  the 
river  Ohio?  In  the  3d  section  of  the  4th  article  of  the 
Constitution,  they  did  make  provision  for  the  admission  of  new 
States,  the  sale  of  the  public  lands,  and  the  temporary  govern- 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ment  of  the  territory.  Without  a  temporary  government, 
new  States  could  not  have  been  formed,  nor  could  the  public 
lands  have  been  sold. 

"  If  the  3d  section  were  before  us  now  for  consideration 
for  the  first  time,  under  the  facts  stated,  I  could  not  hesitate 
to  say  there  was  adequate  legislative  power  given  in  it.  The 
power  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  is  a  power  to 
legislate.  This  no  one  will  controvert,  as  Congress  cannot 
make  '  rules  and  regulations,'  except  by  legislation.  But  it 
is  argued  that  the  word  territory  is  used  as  synonymous  with 
the  word  land  ;  and  that  the  rules  and  regulations  of  Con- 
gress are  limited  to  the  disposition  of  lands  and  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  That  this  is  not  the  true 
construction  of  the  section  appears  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
first  line  of  the  section  '  the  power  to  dispose  of  the  public 
lands '  is  given  expressly,  and,  in  addition,  to  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations.  The  power  to  dispose  of  is  complete 
in  itself,  and  requires  nothing  more.  It  authorizes  Congress 
to  use  the  proper  means  within  its  discretion,  and  any  further 
provision  for  this  purpose  would  be  a  useless  verbiage.  As 
a  composition  the  Constitution  is  remarkably  free  from  such 
a  charge. 

"  The  prohibition  of  slavery  north  of  36°  30',  and  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  contained  in  the  act  admitting  that  State 
into  the  Union,  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  134,  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  to  42.  Before  Mr.  Monroe  signed  the  act, 
it  was  submitted  by  him  to  his  Cabinet,  and  they  held  the 
restriction  of  slavery  in  a  territory  to  be  within  the  constitu- 
tional powers  of  Congress.  It  would  be  singular,  if,  in  1804, 
Congress  had  the  power  to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  slaves 
in  Orleans  territory  from  any  other  part  of  the  Union,  under 
the  penalty  of  freedom  to  the  slave,  if  the  same  power  embodied 
in  the  Missouri  Compromise  could  not  be  exercised  in  1820. 

"  But  this  law  of  Congress,  which  prohibits  slavery  north 
of  Missouri  and  of  36°  30',  is  declared  to  have  been  null  and 


JOHN   Mo  LEAN.  231 

void  by  ray  brethren.  And  this  opinion  is  founded  mainly,  as 
I  understand,  on  the  distinction  drawn  between  the  ordinance 
of  1787  and  the  Missouri  Compromise  line.  In  what  does  the 
distinction  consist  ?  TJhe  ordinance,  it  is  said,  was  a  compact 
entered  into  by  the  confederated  States  before  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  ;  and  that  in  the  cession  of  territory, 
authority  was  given  to  establish  a  territorial  government. 

"  It  is  clear  that  the  ordinance  did  not  go  into  operation 
by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  the  confederation,  but  by  reason 
of  its  modification  and  adoption  by  Congress  under  the  Con- 
stitution. It  seems  to  be  supposed,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  that  the  articles  of  cession  placed  it  on  a  different  foot- 
ing from  territories  subsequently  acquired.  I  am  unable  to 
perceive  the  force  of  this  distinction.  That  the  ordinance 
was  intended  for  the  government  of  the  northwestern  terri- 
tory, and  was  limited  to  such  territory,  is  admitted.  It  was 
extended  to  southern  territories,  with  modifications  by  acts 
of  Congress,  and  to  some  northern  territories.  But  the  ordi- 
nance was  made  valid  by  the  act  of  Congress,  and  without 
such  act  could  have  been  of  no  force.  It  rested  for  its  val- 
idity on  the  act  of  Congress,  the  same,  in  my  opinion,  as  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line. 

"  If  Congress  may  establish  a  territorial  government  hi  the 
exercise  of  its  discretion,  it  is  a  clear  principle  that  a  court 
cannot  control  that  discretion.  This  being  the  case,  I  do  not 
see  on  what  ground  the  act  is  held  to  be  void.  It  did  not 
purport  to  forfeit  property,  or  take  it  for  public  purposes.  It 
only  prohibited  slavery  ;  in  doing  which,  it  followed  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787." 

In  18<iO,  Judge  McLean  lost  his  wife,  and  in  1843, 
married  bis  present  wife,  Mrs.  Sara  Bella  Gerrard  of 
Cincinnati.  In  his  personal  appearance,  Judge 
McLean  is  imposing,  for  he  is  tall  and  well  proper- 


232  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

tioned,  and  his  face  is  one  of  the  finest  among  the  list 
of  American  jurists.  As  a  judge,  he  is  above  re- 
proach; and  as  a  Christian — he  is  a  member  of  a 
Christian  church — he  has  won  the  esteem  of  all  who 
know  him  in  that  relation. 


HENRY  A.  WISE. 

GOVERNOR  WISE  is  certainly  one  of  the  ablest  of 
the  southern  democrats.  He  may  lack  judgment 
and  that  balance  of  character  which  is  necessary  in 
the  truly  great  man ;  but  he  is  a  decided  genius. 
Whatever  he  has  attempted  he  has  accomplished, 
thus  far,  from  his  wonderful  energy  and  activity. 
Whether  he  has  reached  that  bound  in  his  political 
triumphs  beyond  which  he  cannot  pass,  remains  to  be 
seen.  We  will  very  briefly  glance  at  his  past  his- 
tory and  his  present  views  upon  the  great  political 
issues  of  the  country. 

Henry  A.  Wise  was  born  in  Drummond  Town, 
Accomack  County,  Virginia,  December  3,  1806.  He 
was  a  precocious  lad,  for  he  graduated  at  Washington 
College,  Pa.,  when  he  was  but  nineteen  years  old. 
He  then  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Winchester,  Ya.,  in  1828.  With  a  western  fever 
in  his  bones,  and  desirous  of  a  new  field  in  a  new 
country,  he  emigrated  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where 
he  practised  law  for  two  years.  He  soon  grew 
homesick  for  old  Yirginia,  and  returned  to  Accomack 
County.  The  district  showed  its  estimation  of  the 


234  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

young  man  by  returning  him  to  Congress  in  1833. 
He  continued  to  represent  it  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives for  ten  years.  In  1843,  he  resigned  his 
place  and  took  the  mission  to  Brazil.  He  remained 
there  for  a  Presidential  term.  In  1848,  he  was  a 
Presidential  elector  in  Virginia;  in  1850,  was  a 
member  of  the  Reform  Convention  which  adopted 
the  present  constitution  of  the  State.  In  1852,  he 
was  again  a  Presidential  elector,  and  in  1855  was 
nominated  by  his  party  as  their  candidate  for 
Governor.  This  caucus  will  always  be  remembered 
and  will  give  him  unfading  political  laurels.  The 
contest  was  probably  one  of  the  most  exciting,  close, 
and  bitter,  which  ever  took  place,  even  in  Virginia. 
The  Know  Nothings,  or  Americans,  were  then  in  the 
height  of  power  and  were  sanguine  of  success.  Mr. 
Wise  took  the  stump  with  the  prophets  against  him, 
and  in  fact  with  a  general  impression  abroad  that  he 
would  be  defeated.  He  carried  on  the  year's  canvass 
as  no  other  man  beside  Henry  A.  "Wise  could  have 
done  it.  He  bearded  Americanism  in  its  den — 
forced  it  upon  its  own  territory — and  triumphed  in 
the  popular  vote  by  thousands.  However  rash  and 
extravagant  his  speeches  were,  he  had  that  over- 
whelming enthusiasm  and  vigor,  which  carried  down 
all  opposition,  and  placed  him  in  the  Governor's 
chair. 

As  a  politician,  Governor  Wise  has  always  been 


HENRY   A.  WISE.  235 

true  to  the  Virginian  school,  liigidly  in  favor  of 
State  rights,  and  as  rigidly  opposed  to  protective 
tariffs — in  short,  bitterly  anti-Whig  in  all  his  opinions. 
On  the  slavery  question,  from  the  outset,  he  has  been 
ultra  pro-slavery,  though  he  was  opposed  to  the 
Lecompton  policy  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administra- 
tion. He  has  favored  internal  improvements  in 
Virginia,  and  has  in  this  respect  differed  from  Mr. 
Hunter.  This  is  the  bright  feature  in  Governor 
Wise's  political  character.  He  never  was  an  old 
fogy,  but  is  brimful  of  originality  and  reform.  To 
see  what  is  Governor  Wise's  position  on  many  of 
the  issues  of  the  day,  we  will  quote  a  few  passages 
from  his  letter  of  January  3,  1859,  to  Hon.  David 
Hubbard : 

"  Now,  I  have  raised  my  warning  of  late  against  this 
weakness  and  wickedness  on  our  part.  I  have  tried  to  pro- 
tect my  widowed  mother,  the  South,  by  giving  honest  filial 
counsel  against  the  whole  household.  The  Reubens  have 
tried  to  sell  me  into  Egypt  for  my  '  dreaming.'  But  I  am, 
nevertheless,  loyal  to  the  house  of  my  father  and  loving  to 
my  misguided  brethren,  and  I  mean  to  redouble  my  efforts 
the  more  to  save  the  house  of  Israel.  If  I  must  be  driven 
out  as  a  dreamer,  I  will,  at  least,  preserve  '  mine  integrity,' 
and  time  and  the  day  of  famine  will  show  whose  counsel  and 
whose  course  will  have  saved  the  household  and  fed  it,  and 
all  the  land  of  the  stranger  too.  Aye  ;  and  is  democracy  as 
well  as  the  South  to  have  no  out-spoken,  honest  counsellor  ? 
Are  we  to  be  given  over  to  the  federal  gods  of  Pacific  rail- 
roads ?  Are  we  to  out-Yazoo  Yazoo  1  To  out-Adams 
Adams  in  putting  internal  improvements  by  the  General 


236  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Government  on  the  most  Omnipotent  and  indefinitely  stretch- 
ing power  of  all  powers  of  the  Federal  Government — the  war 
power  1  Are  we  to  abolish  ad  valorem,  and  adopt  the  specific 
duties  to  supply  a  tariff  for  revenue,  the  standard  of  which 
is  already  eighty-one  millions  of  expenditure  on  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  millions  average  rate  of  importations  ? 
Are  we  to  increase  eighty-one  millions  of  expenditure  to  the 
unknown  limitless  amount  required  for  railroads  across  this 
continent ;  for  post-offices  that  don't  pay  expenses  ;  for  pen- 
sions unheard  of  in  character  and  amount ;  for  a  land  office 
which  gives  away  three  acres  for  every  one  sold,  and  brings 
us  in  debt ;  for  increase  of  a  standing  army  such  as  our  fron- 
tiers and  Indian  wars  and  protectorates  of  foreign  territory 
propose  ;  and,  therefore,  for  such  a  navy  as  Isthmian  wars 
with  no  less  than  eight  powers  of  the  earth — England,  Spain, 
France,  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  New  Granada,  and 
Paraguay — demand  if  threatened  only  ?  Is  protection  to  be 
turned  into  prohibition  ?  If  so,  what  is  a  '  direct  tax  ?' 
Is  land  tax  the  only  one  which  can  be  '  apportioned  T  Are 
the  landowners  to  pay  all  the  cost  of  the  crusade  of  Con- 
gress and  manifest  destiny  ?  Is  strict  construction  and  are 
State  rights  to  be  abandoned,  and  are  we  to  give  up  State 
corporations  to  the  bankruptcies  of  a  federal  commission  ? 
Where  would  have  been  our  people  and  their  effects  last 
year  if  a  federal  power  could  have  put  our  State  banks  into 
a  course  of  liquidation  under  a  commission  of  bankruptcy  ? 
Is  the  South,  is  any  portion  of  our  community,  in  a  situation 
to  rush  into  wars — wars  invited  by  the  President  with  three 
European  and  five  American  powers  ?  And  are  we  to  be  a 
grand  consolidated,  elective,  North  and  South  American 
imperialism  ?  The  question  is  not,  '  Will  the  Union  be 
dissolved  ?'  That  is  a  settled  question.  But  the  question 
is,  '  Is  the  old  Virginia  democratic  faith  to  be  abandoned, 
and  are  we  to  rush  on  with  the  President  into  a  full  scheme 
of  federal  policy  which  in  its  outline  and  filling  up,  exceeds 


HENBY    A.  WISE.  237 

any  federalism,  in  all  its  points,  which  a  Hamilton,  or  Adams, 
or  any  other  latitudinarian,  ever  dared  to  project  or  pro- 
pose? 

"  For  my  part,  I  take  ground  now  firmly  and  at  once 
against  the  war  power.  I  am  for  the  Washington  policy 
of  peace,  and  against  all  entangling  alliances  and  protecto- 
rates, and  the  Jackson  rule  of  '  demanding  nothing  but  what 
is  right,  and  submitting  to  nothing  that  is  wrong,'  and  for 
preserving  and  protecting  the  South  and  whole  country  from 
ambitious  and  buccaneering  wars,  of  which  the  landed  and 
planting  interests  would  have  to  bear  the  burden,  at  a  great 
sacrifice  of  present  prosperity.  I  am  against  internal  im- 
provements by  the  General  Government,  more  than  ever  since 
their  construction  is  put  on  the  war  power.  If  we  could 
beard  England  up  to  54°  40',  ten  years  ago,  without  a  road 
or  known  route  to  Oregon,  why  can't  we  wait  for  emigrants 
to  beat  a  path  on  their  way  to  gold  mines,  and  hold  Cali- 
fornia, without  cutting  a  military  road  in  time  of  peace  ?  I 
am  for  retrenchment  and  reform  of  all  expenditures,  and  for 
revenue  only  for  economical  administration,  on  a  scale  of 
pure,  old-fashioned  republican  simplicity,  discriminating  no 
more  than  is  necessary  to  prevent  prohibition  on  non-dutiable 
articles.  I  am  for  free  trade,  and  the  protection  it  affords  is 
demonstrably  ample  for  a  people  of  enterprise  and  art  like 
ours.  I  am  against  State-bank  bankruptcy,  and  all  sorts 
of  bankruptcy  whatever.  The  Federal  Government  shall 
never  declare  again  that  honest  debts  shall  be  paid  by  gulp- 
ing and  oaths,  with  my  consent.  But  my  paper  is  run 
out. 

"  The  President  bids  high.  To  filibusters  he  offers  Cuba 
and  the  Isthmus  and  North  Mexico  ;  to  the  West  a  Pacific 
Railroad  ;  to  the  North  protection  to  iron .  and  coarse 
woollens  ;  and  to  the  great  commercial  countries  the  power 
of  centralization  by  obvious  uses  and  abuses  of  a  bankrupt 
act  to  supply  to  State  banks.  Yesterday  Biddle  was  a  mon- 


238  PRESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATES. 

ster,  and  to-day  a  few  Wall  street  bankers  can  expand  and 
contract  upon  us  more  like  a  vice  than  he  did  ;  and  what 
would  they  not  do  if  they  could  force  the  poor  provinces 
when  they  pleased  into  bankruptcy  ?" 

In  his  later  letter — to  Mr.  Samford,  of  Alabama 
— Gov.  Wise  gave  his  opinion  of  the  Douglas  "  non- 
intervention "  doctrine  in  unmistakable  language. 
He  says :  • 

• 
"  Intervention  for  protection,   by   the    United     States, 

through  Congress,  is  all-pervading.  It  penetrates  into 
States,  territories,  districts  and  other  places  throughout 
the  United  States,  and  is  one  of  the  most  vitally  essential 
attributes  of  our  blessed  Federal  Union..  No  doctrine 
could  be  more  repugnant  to  its  benign  spirit,  none  more 
destructive  of  federal  immunities  and  privileges,  and  none 
more  fatal  to  State  rights  and  the  safety  of  individual 
persons  and  their  property,  than  this  new  light  of  "  Non-in- 
tervention "  to  protect  all  and  everything  in  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  question  which  cannot  be 
retired  from  discussion  in  Congress,  where  it  rises  up  every 
day  in  every  form,  and  where  it  must  be  met  with  intelli- 
gence, integrity  and  courage.  It  cannot  be  renounced  or 
smothered,  or  the  Government  must  relinquish  its  dominion 
over  every  subject  of  its  jurisdiction. 

"  And  this  doctrine  of  '  Non-intervention  for  Protection ' 
is  only  equalled  in  danger  and  destructiveness  by  that  cor- 
relative error  of  some  minds  in  these  days  :  '  That  Congress 
may  not  intervene  to  protect  ;  for  if  it  has  the  power  to 
protect,  it  has  the  power  to  destroy.'  This  is  a  non  sequitur, 
and  a  weak  fallacy  and  gross  delusion.  The  power  and 
duty  to  protect  is  the  power  and  duty  not  only  not  to  destroy, 
but  something  far  greater — it  is  the  duty  to  intervene 


HENRY   A.  WISE. 

against  invasion  and  violence.  The  whole  American  system 
of  government  throughout  is  one  to  protect  against  destruc- 
tion. Because  Congress  may  and  shall  provide  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  trial  by  jury,  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the 
press,  etc.,  etc.,  shall  it,  therefore,  be  said  to  possess  the 
power  to  withhold,  deny  or  destroy  either  or  all  of  these 
rights  ? 

"  But,  say  some,  cui  bono  1 — if  a  majority  of  Congress  are 
opposed  to  the  protection  of  the  right,  what  use  is  there  hi 
claiming  the  mere  abstraction  of  the  right •?  I  reply  that 
there  is  great  use  and  practical  effect  in  it  too. 

"  The  proposition  of  non-intervention  is :  '  By  the  Com- 
promise of  1850,  the  Kansas  Nebraska  act,  and  other 
declarations  of  its  will,  Congress  renounced  the  exercise  of 
any  direct  jurisdiction  over  the  territories,  and  delegated  its 
power  to  the  local  legislatures.'  But  it  concedes  that  Con- 
gress could  bestow  no  authority  on  the  local  legislatures  of 
which  it  was  not  itself  possessed ' — in  other  words,  "  Congress 
cannot  delegate  more  power  than  it  possesses  itself  ;  and  it 
has  none  to  prohibit  slavery.  Yery  well,  and  so  good  as  to 
the  power.  But  there  is  a  positive  duty  to  be  discharged  as 
well  as  a  power  not  to  be  exercised.  Suppose  the  territorial 
legislature  attempts  to  prohibit  slavery,  and  thus  do  what 
Congress  itself  cannot  do  in  the  territories.  Has  Congress 
renounced  its  jurisdiction  in  the  case  ?  Could  it  or  can  it  do 
so  ?  If  not,  what  is  its  duty  ?  Does  non-intervention 
renounce  this  duty  of  protection,  in  such  a  case,  or  not  ?  It 
replies  that  this  claim  upon  Congress  to  discharge  this  duty 
will  be  vain.  Why  ?  There  is  a  dead  majority  against  us  in 
Congress,  and  they  will  not  heed  the  appeal  to  the  legisla- 
tive department  for  protection. 

"  Well,  but  the  case  supposes  a  like  dead  majority  and  an 
aggressive  majority  against  us  in  the  territorial  legislature 
too. — What  then  ?  There  is  no  refuge  of  safety  from  a 
majority  against  us  in  territorial  legislatures.  Non-inter- 


240  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES, 

vention  quickly  answers  this  dilemma,  by  saying  :  '  let  the 
courts  determine  between  us  and  our  adversaries.'  This  is 
what  is  called  '  remitting '  the  question  to  the  judiciary, 
which  may  decide  as  well  as  the  Congress  or  the  Executive. 
— True,  the  judiciary  may  and  must  decide,  anyhow,  in 
either  case,  for  that  was  no  discovery  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  but  a 
Constitutional  function,  which  has  ever  belonged  to  the 
courts,  and  of  which  Congress  and  the  Executive  and  the 
Territorial  authorities  cannot  deprive  them  ;  and,  without 
any  remission  by  Congress,  the  judiciary  department  has 
the  power  of  deciding  upon  the  validity  of  laws.  And  it  can 
as  well  and  more  directly  pass  upon  the  validity  of  laws 
enacted  by  Congress  itself  as  upon  the  validity  of  those 
enacted  by  the  territorial  legislatures.  If  Congress  passes 
an  unconstitutional  law,  we  can  go  to  the  courts,  just  as  easy 
as  if  the  law  was  passed  by  its  delegate,  the  territorial 
Legislature.  And  if  Congress  does  not  renounce  its  direct 
jurisdiction  and  delegate  it  to  the  territorial  legislature, 
then  the  latter  will  have  no  power  to  annoy  the  slave  pro- 
perty locally  by  its  abuse  of  delegated  power  ;  and  the 
territorial  legislature  is  more  apt  to  pass  a  prohibition  than 
Congress  is,  for  very  obvious  reasons.  The  eye  of  the  whole 
nation  is  immediately  upon  Congress,  and  no  positive  code 
is  required  to  establish  its  power  and  duty  to  protect  persons 
and  property.  The  Constitution  itself  dictates  and  enjoins 
both.  And  it  is  first  of  all  necessary,  that  neither  the 
power  nor  the  duty  shall  be  practically  denied,  embarrassed 
or  obstructed,  by  the  enactment  of  unconstitutional  laws  of 
prohibition.  Positive  legislation  is  more  apt  to  be  passed 
against  slavery  by  local  than  by  national  laws.  In  any 
practical  view,  then,  we  are  attempting  to  shear  a  lion 
instead  of  a  wolf.  Non-intervention  is  simply  absurd  and 
impossible,  and  it  is  worse  than  impracticable. 
********** 

"  Such  are  the  teachings  to  me  of  our  past  history,  and  I 


HENBY   A.  WISE.  241 

trust  that  I  have  now  demonstrated  in  the  second  place  : 
'  That  the  inhabitants  or  people  of  a  territory  are  sovereign 
to  form  themselves  a  constitution  and  State  government  as 
I  have  shown  in  the  first  place,  that  in  their  territorial  con- 
dition they  are  within  the  entire  control  and  jurisdiction,  or 
under  the  entire  rule  or  regulation  of  Congress,  subject  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  citizens 
of  each  and  all  of  the  States  are  alike  equally  entitled  to 
protection  in  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  persons  and 
property,  common  to  equal  confederates. 

"  And  this  right  and  this  duty  of  protection  is  not  to  be 
evaded  or  avoided  either  by  the  false  ad  captandum  clamor 
that  a  code  is  required  to  be  enacted  by  Congress  for  the 
protection  of  slave  property.  This  is  but  to  cast  odium 
upon  slavery,  by  creating  the  impression  that  a  discrimina- 
tion is  necessary  to  distinguish  it  above  what  is  due  to  other 
personal  and  proprietary  rights.  On  the  contrary,  no  such 
code  is  required  to  create  either  the  right  or  the  duty  of 
protection,  and  no  law  is  necessary  to  distinguish  slave 
property  from  any  other  property.  All  persons  and  all 
property,  equally  and  alike,  require  only  not  to  be  assailed 
and  destroyed  in,  or  excluded  from  the  common  territories. 
Every  species  of  rights  requires  laws,  it  is  true,  suited  to  its 
character  and  to  its  case.  Personal  property,  for  example, 
must  have  a  law  that  it  shall  not  be  'taken  and  carried 
away ;'  and  land,  which  cannot  be  '  taken  and  carried  away,' 
must  have  a  law  that  it  shall  not  be  trespassed  upon  in 
some  other  way  ;  and  so  with  slaves  and  everything  else, 
they  must  have  provisions  according  to  their  kind.  But  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  laws  of  Congress 
heretofore  organizing  territories  are  sufficient,  and  if  amend- 
ments of  the  laws  are  required,  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
see  that  they  are  provided,  of  the  Executive  of  the  United 
States  to  see  that  they  are  executed,  and  of  the  judiciary  to 

11 


24:2  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

decide  upon  the  rights  under  the  laws.  The  slave  States 
should  never  pretend  to  any  peculiar  privileges,  and  do  not, 
so  far  as  I  know.  They  ask  only  that  their  rights  shall  not 
be  assailed  and  invaded,  and,  if  they  be  assailed,  that  they 
may  be  protected  as  other  personal  and  proprietary  rights 
are  protected  ;  that  they  may  have  equal,  confederate,  fede- 
ral privileges  and  immunities,  and  they  ask  for  no  special  or 

peculiar  code 

"To  escape  "danger  or  disaster  to  themselves,  your  Con- 
gress, and  Executives,  and  judiciary,  and  State  legislatures, 
shall  not,  with  my  consent,  be  allowed  to  drop  the  reins  of 
government  and  leap  from  the  seats  of  power  and  responsi- 
bility, and  renounce  the  duty  of  protection  and  preservation 
to  all  within  their  care  by  the  ignoring  and  stultifying  and 
disqualifying  plea  of  negation — '  Non-intervention?  There 
are  too  many  elements  of  discord  in  this  country  which  re- 
quire to  be  restrained  by  the  most  active  and  positive,  but 
prudent  intervention.  These  resolutions  of  Vermont,  the 
tendency  of  which  is  either  to  drive  one  section  of  the  States 
out  of  the  Union,  or  to  degrade  and  subjugate  them  in  it, 
are  an  example.  If  anything  can  be  worse  than  disunion  to 
the  United  States,  it  would  be  the  more  dire  alternative  of 
degrading  and  subjugating  any  one  State  by  forcing  her  sub- 
mission to  unequal  laws  and  dishonorable  conditions  in  the 
confederacy.  The  state  or  section  of  states  thus  subdued 
and  humbled,  would  be  unworthy  of  the  union  with  other 
free  republics,  and  such  a  union  would  be  no  longer  what 
union  now  is.  It  should,  then,  be  the  watchful  concern  of 
all  to  maintain  and  support  the  honor,  dignity,  and  equality 
of  each  ;  and  equality  alone  can  reciprocally  maintain  the 
strength  of  all.  If  first  one  and  then  another  may  be  sub- 
dued, finally  all  but  one  will  become  subject  to  that  one, 
central  and  consolidated.  This  should  always  combine  the 
majority  of  States  to  support  the  weaker  portion  of  the  Union 
against  the  very  appearance  of  oppression." 


HENRY   A.  WISE.  243 

Such  is  the  position  of  Gov.  "Wise  on  the  slavery 
question.  He  is  radical  in  his  views,  demanding  the 
fullest  protection  from  the  courts  and  Congress  for 
the  protection  of  slavery.  The  faults  as  well  as  the 
virtues  of  Gov.  Wise  he  carries  openly  in  his  face ;  if 
he  is  hold  and  imprudent,  so  he  is  frank  and  truthful. 
There  is  no  deceit  in  him,  and  his  political  enemies 
know  the  worst  when  they  know  anything  of  his 
views  or  his  course. 


R,  M.  T.  HUNTER. 

SENATOR  HUNTER  is  a  contrast,  in  almost  every  one 
of  his  traits  of  character,  to  Governor  "Wise.  The 
Governor  is  voluble — he  writes  letters  thirty  columns 
long  upon  the  condition  of  the  country.  Senator 
Hunter  is  reticent.  The  Governor  is,  say  his  .ene- 
mies, rash.  Mr.  Hunter  is  cautious  and  prudent  to  a 
fault.  Governor  Wise,  again,  is  a  reformer  in  his 
way — Senator  Hunter  is  set  down  as  an  "  old  fogy  " 
in  politics.  Yet  both  are  Democrats,  and  agree 
in  essentials,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

Few  members  of  the  Senate  enjoy  to  such  an 
extent  the  respect  of  the  entire  body  as  Mr.  Hunter. 
His  manners,  his  bearing,  his  style  of  speaking,  and 
his  deportment  in  social  circles,  are  such  as  to  win 
him  the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him,  even  in  spite 
of  political  opposition. 

In  the  Senate,  he  resembles  some  quiet  unpretend- 
ing farmer,  who  might  have  come  up  from  a  rural 
district,  to  sit  in  a  State  legislature.  He  dresses 
plain,  is  dignified  without  the  least  particle  of  pre- 
tension ;  speaks  plainly,  slowly,  but  clearly.  Never 
tries  to  ride  down  a  political  opponent  by  declama- 

244 


E.   M.    T.    HUNTER.  245 

tion,  but  coolly  argues  the  point  of  difference. 
During  the  most  exciting  debates  he  keeps  his 
temper,  and  though  in  political  matters,  especially 
upon  the  slavery  question,  he  is  ultra-southern  in 
his  views,  he  is  so  watchful,  so  prudent,  so  mild  in 
his  speech,  that  he  contrives  to  win  the  esteem  of 
his  northern  associates,  and  to  be  very  popular  with 
them. 

Mr.  Hunter  is  a  native  of  Essex  County,  Ya.,  was 
liberally  educated,  and  adopted  the  law  as  a  profes- 
sion. His  first  political  experience  was  gained  in  the 
Virginian  State  Legislature,  where  he  remained 
three  years ;  but  in  1837,  he  was  elected  ta  Congress 
as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
he  remained  four  years.  In  1845,  he  was  reflected 
to  Congress,  and  was  made  Speaker  of  the  Twenty- 
sixth  Congress.  In  1847,  he  was  elected  United 
States'  Senator,  where  he  still  remains,  and  has  been 
for  years  the  able  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee. 

Mr.  Hunter's  political  views  are  known  to  the 
country  at  large.  He  is  a  southern  Democrat,  with 
the  views  of  a  southern  democratic  politician — anti- 
tariff,  of  course — anti-homestead  law — in  the  last 
Congress  voting  in  the  Senate  against  bringing  up 
the  bill  for  consideration.  His  views  on  Popular 
Sovereignty,  we  will  give,  shortly,  from  his  own  lips. 
He  supported  the  Lecompton  bill  through  thick  and 


246  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

thin,  though  he  did  it  as  he  does  all  his  work,  in  a 
modest,  quiet  way,  without  bluster,  or  any  attempt 
to  intimidate. 

In  the  non- intervention  debate  of  March,  1839, 
Senator  Hunter  gave  his  views  of  the  question  under 
discussion,  in  the  following  language  : 

"  It  is  with  extreme  reluctance  that  I  say  a  word  on  this 
subject  so  unhappily  sprung  up  on  the  appropriation  bill,  of 
which  I  stand  here  as  the  guardian,  a  very  insufficient  one,  as 
it  seems ;  but  the  course  of  the  debate  has  made  it  necessary 
for  me,  in  my  own  vindication,  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  regard 
to  this  Nebraska-Kansas  act/ 

"  I  differ  from  the  senator  from  Illinois  in  regard  to  the 
bill,  the  history  of  its  inception,  and  what  was  intended  by 
it.  As  I  understand  it,  we  stood  in  this  position  :  the 
southern  senators,  I  believe,  almost  without  an  exception, 
who  spoke  upon  that  question — I  know  I  did  for  one,  as  I 
have  always  done  from  the  time  I  first  made  my  appearance 
on  this  floor — maintained  that  the  South  had  the  right, 
under  the  Constitution,  of  protection  of  this  property  in  the 
Territories  ;  on  the  other  hand,  senators  from  the  free  States 
denied  that  right.  None  of  them  would  vote  to  give  it  to 
us  ;  but  there  were  a  portion  of  the  northern  democracy 
who  were  willing  to  do  this  ;  they  were  willing  to  repeal  the 
Missouri  restriction,  and  establish  a  territorial  government 
there.  A  bill  was  immediately  drawn  which  left  this  right 
to  the  territories  to  legislate  for  the  prohibition  of  slavery 
in  abeyance.  It  neither  affirmed  nor  disaffirmed  the  power 
of  the  territorial  legislature  to  legislate  upon  this  subject 
of  slavery;  but  it  provided  very  carefully  and  cautiously 
that  any  question  arising  out  of  it  might  be  referred  to  the 
judiciary 

The  case  then  stood  thus  :  whilst  the  southern  men  main- 


K.    M.    T.    HUNTER.  247 

tained  on  one  side  (and  I  was  amongst  them)  that  they  had 
the  right  to  the  protection  of  their  property  under  the  Con- 
stitution, those  from  the  free  States  maintained  the  opposite 
opinion.  There  could  have  been  no  accord  between  them  on 
that  point  ;  but  the  southern  men,  with  some  objection  and 
reluctance,  in  order  to  harmonize,  did  agree,  as  the  only  mode 
of  getting  the  Missouri  Compromise  repealed,  if  the  territo- 
rial legislature  attempted  to  exercise  the  power,  that  the 
court  should  decide  ;  and  this  they  could  do  with  perfect 
consistency,  because  they  provided  that  whatever  powers 
were  delegated  to  the  territorial  legislature  should  be  exer- 
cised under  the  Constitution.  In  their  opinion,  the  Consti- 
tution not  only  prohibited  Congress  from  delegating  a  power 
to  abolish  slavery  to  the  territories,  but  from  exercising  it 
itself.  Whilst  they  maintained  that  Congress  had  the  power 
to  govern  in  the  territories,  they  maintained  that  there  was 
an  obligation  on  Congress,  imposed  by  the  equality  of  the 
States,  that  they  should  not  prohibit  the  institutions  of  one 
State  while  they  allowed  those  of  another  ;  and  that  was  the 
mode  in  which  it  was  passed.  The  bill  in  itself  was,  in  my 
opinion,  a  compromise  in  which  neither  sacrificed  principles, 
but  left  the  whole  question  in  abeyance  to  be  decided  by  the 
courts  without  taking  from  Congress  the  power  to  resume 
jurisdiction,  if  they  should  choose  to  do  so  afterward.  They 
retained  as  much  good  as  they  could  without  raising  those 
questions  upon  which  there  could  have  been  no  accord  of 
opinion. 

"  Now,  sir,  I  say  it  never  was  understood,  so  far  as  I  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  bill,  by  the  southern  men  who  main- 
tained the  class  of  opinions  of  which  I  am  speaking,  that 
they  were  conferring  on  the  territorial  legislature  the  abso- 
lute power  to  deal  with  this  subject.  They  did  not ;  but  they 
were  secured  to  vote  for  a  bill  which  would  organize  a  terri- 
torial Legislature  which  should  leave  this  question  in  abey- 
ance, and  this  bill  decided  nothing,  but  only  provided  that 


248  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  question  should  go  to  the  courts,  to  be  decided  under 
that  jurisdiction. 

"  Nor  did  the  bill — although  everybody  consented  to  strike 
out  the  phrase  to  which  the  senator  from  Illinois  alludes — 
nor  did  the  bill  ever  mean  to  say  that  Congress  absolutely 
gave  up  jurisdiction  over  the  subject.  Inasmuch  as  it  was 
a  common  point  which  accomplished  good,  which  repealed 
what  all  the  branches  of  the  Democracy  thought  unconstitu- 
tional— the  Missouri  Compromise — they  passed  a  bill  which 
did  that,  without  deciding  absolutely  on  other  differences  of 
opinion,  but  merely  providing  a  tribunal  to  decide  them  when 
they  should  come  up." 

That  Senator  Hunter  stated  the  truth  in  reference  to 
himself  is  evident  from  the  subjoined  quotation  from 
a  speech  of  his,  delivered  during  the  discussion  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  act  in  1854 : 

"  But  it  has  been  often  said  by  those  who  admit  that  Con- 
gress has  the  power  of  governing  the  territories,  that  it  is  a 
power  to  be  exercised,  not  in  reference  to  the  rights  of  the 
States,  but  hi  reference  to  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  territories.  Now,  if  in  exercising  this  power  we 
are  to  be  confined  to  the  single  consideration  of  the  good 
and  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  territories,  then,  I  say,  the 
whole  subject  of  government  ought  to  be  left  to  the  people 
of  the  territories.  That  is  the  true  American  principle.  If 
the  only  consideration  which  is  to  apply  to  their  government 
be  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  territories,  then 
they  ought  to  determine  all  questions  in  regard  to  their 
domestic  institutions  and  laws.  But,  hi  my  opinion,  the 
government  of  these  territories  ought  to  be  administered 
with  the  double  object  of  securing  the  rights  of  the  States 
as  well  as  those  of  the  people  of  the  territories,  and  to  these 


E.    M.    T.    HUNTER.  249 

last  should  be  given  all  the  rights  of  self-government  which 
are  consistent  with  the  limitation,  that  they  shall  not  inter- 
fere with  the  equal  rights  of  the  States,  or  violate  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution.  With  those  limitations,  all  the 
power  that  could  possibly  be  given  to  the  people  of  that 
territory,  ought  to  be  given  to  them.  All  that  portion  of 
the  power  which  is  to  be  exercised  with  a  view  to  their 
interests,  ought  to  be  exercised  as  they  wish  it.  That,  in 
my  opinion,  is  the  true  principle. 

"  I  know  we  have  most  high,  distinguished,  and  respect- 
able authority  for  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  the  territo- 
ries have  a  sort  of  natural  right  to  exercise  all  power  within 
those  territories.     It  is  not  my  purpose  to  raise  an  issue  upon 
that  question.     I  do  not  mean  to  argue  it.     I  do  not  wish 
to  raise  an  issue  with  the   friends  of  this  bill,  with  those 
whom  I  am  assisting,  and  who  are  assisting  me,  to  pass  this 
measure.      Nor  will  I  do  it  unless  it  should  be  absolutely 
necessary,  which  is  not  now  the  case.     For,  happily,  the  bill 
is  so  framed  that  it  can  be  maintained,  not  only  by  those 
who  entertain  such  opinions  as  I  have  referred  to,  but  by 
those,  also,  who  entertain  opinions  like  my  own.     The  bill 
provides  that  the  legislatures  of  these  territories  shall  have 
the  power  to  legislate  over  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation, 
consistently  with  the   Constitution.      And  if  they  should 
assume  powers  which  are  thought  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
Constitution,  the  courts  will  decide  that  question,  whenever 
it  may  be  raised.     There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  amongst 
the  friends  of  this  measure,  as  to  the  extent  of  the  limits 
which  the  Constitution  imposes  upon  the  territorial  legisla- 
tures.    This  bill  proposes  to  leave  these  differences  to  the 
decision  of  the  courts.     To  that  tribunal  I  am  willing  to 
leave  this  decision,  as  it  was  once  before  proposed  to  be  left, 
by  the  celebrated  compromise  of  the  senator  from  Delaware 
(Mr.  Clayton),  a  measure  which,  according  to  my  under- 
standing, was  the  best  compromise  which  was  offered  upoii 

11* 


250  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

this  subject  of  slavery.  I  say,  then,  that  I  am  willing  to 
leave  this  point,  upon  which  the  friends  of  this  bill  are  at  dif- 
ference, to  the  decision  of  the  courts." 

This  position  cannot  be  misunderstood.  It  is  that 
the  Supreme  Court  may  overturn  the  action  -of  terri- 
torial legislatures.  But  does  Senator  Hunter  advo- 
cate, as  Governor  Wise  does,  Congressional  interven- 
tion to  enforce  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  ? 
Upon  this  point  he  is  silent ;  though,  from  the  lan- 
guage he  uses,  it  is  evident  enough  that  as  a  matter 
of  right  he  would  claim  the  interference  of  Congress 
for  this  purpose — but,  considering  the  fact  that 
there  is  not  the  slightest  chance  that  Congress  could 
ever  be  brought  to  vote  such  protection,  he  may  as  a 
matter  of  policy  relinquish  the  demand. 


HENRY    WILSON. 

HENEY  WILSON  was  born  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1812,  at  Farmingtou,  New  Hampshire.  His  parents 
being  poor,  with  a  large  family  of  children  to  sup- 
port by  their  labor,  he,  with  their  consent,  at  the  age 
of  ten  years,  apprenticed  himself  to  Mr.  William 
Knight,  a  farmer  of  his  native  town,  a  man  remark- 
able for  his  industry  and  habits  of  rigid  economy. 
He  remained  with  Mr.  Knight  till  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  and  for  these  eleven  years  of  incessant  toil,  he 
received  one  yoke  of  oxen,  and  six  sheep.  During 
this  period,  he  was  annually  allowed  to  attend  the 
public  school  four  weeks.  Throughout  these  years 
of  unremitting,  severe,  and  scantily-rewarded  toil,  he 
devoted  his  Sabbaths,  and  as  much  of  his  evenings 
as  he  could  command,  to  reading.  Too  poor  to  pur- 
chase lights,  he  was  forced  to  read  by  the  dim  light 
of  wood  fires ;  and  after  other  members  of  the  family 
had  retired  to  rest,  though  weary  with  the  toils  of 
the  day,  he  spent  the  hours  in  reading,  which  they 
employed  in  sleep.  During  his  apprenticeship,  he 
read  more  than  seven  hundred  volumes  of  history 
and  biography,  most  of  which  were  selected  and 

251 


252  PBESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

loaned  to  him  by  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  Nehemiah 
Eastman,  a  gentleman  who  was  a  member  of  Con- 
gress during  the  first  years  of  John  Quincy  Adams' 
administration.  Mrs.  Eastman  was  the  sister  of  Hon. 
Levi  "Woodbury,  and  a  lady  of  rare  intelligence.  To 
the  judicious  kindness  of  this  accomplished  lady,  who 
thus  early  discovered  and  appreciated  his  talents,  he 
was  indebted  for  the  means  of  acquiring  a  fund  of 
solid  and  useful  knowledge,  and  of  forming  habits  of 
study  and  reflection,  which  have  largely  contributed 
to  his  subsequent  success.  To  Judge  Whitehouse,  of 
his  native  town,  he  was  also  largely  indebted  for  the 
use  of  many  valuable  books.  Poverty  and  toil  were 
the  companions  of  his  boyhood.  His  means  of  men- 
tal culture  were  very  limited,  and  his  education,  on 
attaining  his  majority,  was  very  deficient ;  yet  very 
few  young  men  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  were  better 
read  in  history,  especially  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  England,  and  modern  France. 

After  attaining  his  majority,  Mr.  TTilson,  for  eight 
months,  worked  on  a  farm,  receiving  nine  dollars  a 
month. 

Hoping  to  better  his  condition,  in  December,  1833, 
he  left  Farmington,  and,  with  a  pack  on  his  back, 
made  his  way,  on  foot,  to  the  town  of  JSTatick,  Massa- 
chusetts, his  present  residence.  Here  he  hired  him- 
self to  a  shoemaker,  who  agreed,  for  five  months'  ser- 
vice, to  teach  him  the  art  of  bottoming  shoes.  At 


HENKY   WILSON.  253 

the  end  of  six  weeks,  Mr.  "Wilson  bought  his  time, 
and  went  to  work  on  his  own  account,  at  which  em- 
ployment he  continued  for  more  than  two  years, 
working  so  hard  and  incessantly  that  his  health 
became  seriously  injured,  and  he  was  at  length  com- 
pelled to  quit  for  a  time  the  shoemaker's  bench ;  and 
in  May,  1836,  he  made  a  visit  to  Washington,  where 
he  remained  for  several  weeks  in  regular  attendance 
upon  the  debates  in  Congress.  During  his  stay  at  the 
metropolis,  Pinckney's  Gag  Resolutions  were  passed 
by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Calhoun's 
Incendiary  Publication  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  the 
casting  vote  of  the  Yice-President,  Martin  Yan 
Buren.  The  exciting  debates  to  which  he  listened 
during  this  memorable  period,  and  the  scenes  which 
he  witnessed  at  Williams'  slave-pen,  to  which  he  paid 
a  visit,  made  Henry  Wilson  an  anti-slavery  man,  and 
he  returned  to  New  England  with  the  fixed  resolu- 
tion to  do  all  in  his  power  to  advance  the  anti-slavery 
cause,  and  overthrow  the  influence  of  slavery  in  the 
nation.  How  steadily  he  has  adhered  to  that 
resolution,  his  subsequent  career  bears  ample  wit- 
ness. 

From  Washington,  Mr.  Wilson  returned  to  New 
Hampshire,  and  entered  Stafford  Academy  as  a 
student,  on  the  first  of  July,  1836.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  that  year,  he  attended  the  academy  at 
Wolfsborough  ;  and  during  the  winter  of  1837, 


254  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

taught  school  in  that  town.  In  the  spring  of  1837, 
he  entered  Concord  Academy,  where  he  remained 
six  months.  "While  there,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate 
to  the  Young  Men's  Anti-slavery  State  Convention, 
before  which  body  he  made  his  first  public  speech  in 
behalf  of  freedom.  In  the  autumn,  he  returned  to 
"Wolfsborough  Academy,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
academic  term,  went  again  to  Natick,  Mass.,  where 
he  taught  school  during  the  winter  of  1837-8.  He 
had  intended  to  continue  for  some  time  longer  at 
school,  and  to  commence  a  course  of  classical  studies, 
but  the  failure  of  a  friend,  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
the  few  hundred  dollars  his  own  hands  had  earned, 
left  him  penniless,  and  he  was  compelled  to  change 
his  plans  of  life. 

In  the  spring  of  1838,  he  engaged  in  the  shoe 
manufacturing  business,  in  which  he  continued  till  the 
autumn  of  1848.  During  these  ten  years  he  annu- 
ally manufactured  from  40,000  to  130,000  pairs  of 
shoes,  a  large  portion  of  which  he  sold  to  southern 
merchants.  One  of  his  southern  customers,  who 
owed  him  more  than  a  thousand  dollars,  having 
failed,  wrote  to  him  that  he  could  pay  him  fifty  per 
cent,  of  his  debt,  and  asked  to  be  discharged.  On 
examining  his  statement,  Mr.  "Wilson  found  that 
several  slaves  were  included  in  his  assets.  Here 
was  a  question  to  test  his  anti-slavery  professions. 
Mr.  "Wilson  promptly  signed  the  papers  discharging 


HENKY    WILSON.  255 

him  from  all  obligations,  and  wrote  to  him,  never  to 
send  him  a  dollar  of  the  dividend  if  it  included  the 
money  received  for  slaves. 

In  November,  1839,  Mr.  Wilson  was  a  candidate 
for  representative  to  the  legislature  from  the  town  of 
Natick,  but  being  a  zealous  temperance  man,  and  an 
advocate  of  the  fifteen-gallon  law,  he  was  defeated 
by  the  opponents  of  that  measure.  In  the  spring  of 
1840,  he  took  the  stump  for  General  Harrison,  and 
during  that  memorable  campaign,  made  upward  of 
sixty  speeches.  In  1840,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Harriet  M.  Howe,  of  Natick.  In  1840,  and  again 
in  1841,  the  people  of  Natick  elected  him  their  re- 
presentative to  the  legislature.  In  1842,  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  State  Senate,  for  Middlesex  County, 
but  in  that  year  the  Whig  ticket  was  defeated.  The 
next  year,  however,  and  in  that  following,  1844,  he 
was  chosen  senator. 

During  the  session  of  1845,  the  State  was  deeply 
agitated  by  the  discussion  of  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
In  February  of  that  year,  a  State  convention  was 
called  to  be  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  to  protest  against 
the  annexation.  Mr.  Wilson  drew  up  the  paper  call- 
ing the  convention,  for  the  signatures  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature,  and  applied  to  every  Whig 
member  for  his  name.  The  president  of  the  Senate, 
Hon.  Levi  Lincoln,  and  other  Whig  members,  refused 
to  sign  the  call.  Mr.  Abbot  Lawrence,  Mr.  Nathan 


256  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

Appleton,  Mr.  John  Davis,  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  other 
eminent  Whigs  also  declined  to  unite  in,  or  to  ap- 
prove the  movement.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
that  division  among  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  on 
the  slavery  question,  which  resulted  in  an  open  rup- 
ture in  1848,  and  finally  in  the  utter  overthrow  of 
that  great  and  powerful  party  in  Massachusetts. 

In  September,  1845,  Mr.  Wilson  got  up  a  call  for 
a  mass  convention,  in  Middlesex  County,  to  oppose 
the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  slav«  State.  The  call 
was  responded  to  by  the  people,  and  at  an  adjourned 
meeting  in  Cambridge,  over  which  Mr.  Wilson  pre- 
sided, a  state  committee  was  appointed,  composed  of 
men  of  all  parties,  to  procure  signatures  to  petitions 
against  the  admission  of  Texas.  Sixty-five  thousand 
names  were  procured  in  a  few  weeks,  and  Henry 
Wilson  and  John  G.  Whittier  were  appointed  to 
carry  the  petitions  to  Washington. 

In  the  autumn  of  1845,  Mr.  Wilson  declined  being 
a  candidate  for  the  Senate,  and  was  chosen  Repre- 
sentative from  the  town  of  ]^"atick.  In  the  legisla- 
ture he  introduced  a  resolution  announcing  the 
unalterable  hostility  of  Massachusetts  to  the  further 
extension  and  longer  existence  of  slavery  in  America, 
and  her  fixed  determination  to  use  all  constitutional 
and  legal  means  for  its  extinction.  In  spite  of  the 
coldness  and  opposition  of  several  leading  Whigs, 
this  resolution  was  adopted  by  ninety-three  majority 


HENRY   WILSON.  257 

in  the  House,  but  was  lost  in  the  Senate  by  four 
votes.  Mr.  Wilson  made  an  elaborate  speech  in  its 
behalf,  and  Mr.  Garrison,  in  the  "  Liberator,"  pro- 
nounced it  the  fullest  and  most  comprehensive 
speech  upon  the  slavery  question,  ever  made  in  any 
legislative  body  in  this  country.  In  1846,  Mr. 
Wilson  declined  to  be  again  a  candidate  for  the 
legislature. 

In  1843,  the  officers  of  the  First  Regiment  of 
Artillery  elected  Mr.  Wilson  its  Major  without  his 
knowledge.  He  accepted  the  position,  and  in  June, 
1S4G,  he  was  chosen  Colonel,  and  was  elected  Briga- 
dier, General  of  the  Third  Brigade  in  August,  which 
position  he  continued  to  hold  for  five  years. 

In  March,  1848,  a  Whig  district  convention  was 
held  at  Dedham,  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
John  Quincy  Adams.  Henry  Wilson,  Horace  Mann, 
and  William  Jackson,  were  the  leading  candidates. 
After  three  ballotings  Mr.  Wilson  declined  being 
considered  a  candidate,  and  Mr.  Mann  was  nomi- 
nated. The  convention,  at  the  same  time,  by  an 
almost  unanimous  vote,  elected  Mr.  Wilson  a  dele- 
gate to  the  National  Whig  Convention.  That  the 
vote  was  not  unanimous  was  owing  to  the  fact  that 
lie  had  stated  in  public  and  in  private  that  if  General 
Taylor  should  be  fixed  upon  by  the  Whig  party  as 
its  candidate,  unpledged  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  he 


258  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

not  only  would  not  support  him,  but  would  do  all  in 
his  power  to  defeat  him. 

When  General  Taylor  was  nominated,  and  the 
Wilmot  Proviso  voted  down  by  the  Whig  National 
Convention,  in  June,  1848,  General  Wilson,  and  his 
colleague,  Hon.  Charles  Allen,  denounced  the  action 
of  the  convention,  and  left  it.  Gen.  Wilson  then 
got  up  a  meeting  of  a  few  northern  men,  which  was 
held  in  the  evening,  to  consider  what  steps  should  be 
taken. 

Gen.  Wilson  called  the  meeting  to  order,  and 
after  stating  its  purposes,  moved  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  to  call  a  convention  of  the  opponents  of 
the  Slave  Power.  The  committee  was  accordingly 
appointed,  and  united  with  others  in  calling  the 
Buffalo  Convention,  which  nominated  Mr.  Yan 
Buren  and  Mr.  Chas.  Francis  Adams. 

In  the  summer  of  1848,  General  Wilson  purchased 
the  "Boston  Republican"  a  free-soil  newspaper,  which 
he  edited  from  January,  1849,  to  January,  1851, 
during  which  two  years  he  gave  his  whole  time  to 
the  free-soil  cause,  and  spent  more  than  seven 
thousand  dollars  of  his  own  property,  in  the  support 
of  the  newspaper,  whose  continued  existence  was 
deemed  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  party  of  which 
it  was  the  organ.  In  1849,  he  was  chosen  chairman 
of  the  Free-soil  State  Committee,  in  which  capacity 
he  acted  for  four  year?.  In  the  fall  of  1849.  n 


HENEY   WILSON.  259 

coalition  was  formed  between  the  free-soilers,  and 
the  Democrats  of  Middlesex  County,  for  the  election 
of  senators,  and  General  Wilson  was  pressed  by 
both  parties  to  stand  as  a  candidate  for  the  Senate, 
which  he  steadfastly  refused  to  do.  He  was,  how- 
ever, in  that  year,  chosen  a  representative  from 
the  town  of  Natick.  "When  the  legislature  met,  he 
was  unanimously  nominated  by  the  free-soilers,  as 
their  candidate  for  Speaker.  During  the  session,  he 
was  in  his  seat  every  day,  always  attentive  to  busi- 
ness. 

After  Mr.  Webster  made  his  seventh  of  March 
speech,  an  effort  was  made  to  instruct  him  to  vote  for 
the  doctrines  embodied  in  the  resolutions  pending 
before  the  legislature ;  but  the  proposition  was 
resisted,  and  voted  down  by  the  Whig  majority. 
General  Wilson  told  the  House  that  the  people 
would  repudiate  that  speech,  and  the  men  who 
indorsed  it,  and  that  at  the  coming  election,  the 
men  who  had  deserted  the  cause  of  freedom  would 
be  crushed  by  the  people.  This  prediction,  which, 
was  received  with  defiance  by  the  Whig  leaders, 
was  fulfilled,  and  no  one  in  Massachusetts  con- 
tributed more  to  its  fulfillment  than  the  man  who 
made  it. 

In  the  summer  of  1850,  General  Wilson  called 
together,  at  the  Adams  House  in  Boston,  the  State 
Committee,  and  the  leading  men  of  the  free-soil 


260  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

party,  to  the  number  of  about  seventy.  He  stated 
to  the  meeting  that  the  people  would  make  a  coali- 
tion; that  it  would  be  successful  if  the  committee 
would  aid  it ;  that  Mr.  Webster's  seventh  of  March 
speech  could  be  rebuked ;  the  Fillmore  administra- 
tion condemned;  a  free-soiler  sent  to  the  United 
States  Senate  in  place  of  Mr.  Webster  for  the  long 
term ;  and  an  anti-compromise  Democrat  for  the 
short  term  ;  and  in  short,  that  by  a  coalition,  Massa- 
chusetts could  be  placed  in  such  a  position  that  the 
anti  slavery  men  could  control  her  policy.  After  a 
debate  of  five  hours,  in  which  Messrs.  Marcus  Mor- 
ton, Samuel  Hoar,  J.  G.  Palfrey,  C.  F.  Adams,  R.  H. 
Dana,  Jr.,  and  others  took  part,  the  meeting  declined 
to  sanction  the  coalition,  only  nine  gentlemen,  and 
they  the  youngest  present,  advocating  the  coalition. 
The  people,  however,  made  it,  in  spite  of  the  disap- 
probation of  the  eminent  men,  and  the  State  was 
carried  against  the  Whigs,  and  Geo.  S.  Boutwell 
made  Governor,  and  Charles  Sumner  and  Robert 
Rantoul  sent  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

In  1850,  General  Wilson  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated for  senator  from  Middlesex  County  by  the 
free-soil  and  Democratic  conventions,  and  elected 
by  twenty  one  hundred  majority.  When  the  legis- 
ture  met,  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Senate. 
In  1851,  he  was  reflected  and  again  chosen  presi- 
dent. While  President  of  the  Senate,  he  was  made 


HENRY   WILSON.  261 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  to  welcome  President 
Fillmore  to  Massachusetts,  and  also  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  to  welcome  Kossuth. 

In  1852,  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  free-soil 
National  Convention  at  Pittsburg,  and  was  selected 
to  preside  over  that  body,  and  also  made  Chairman 
of  the  National  Free-soil  Committee.  In  the  same 
year,  he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  Congress  by 
the  free-soilers  of  the  eighth  district,  and,  although 
the  majority  against  the  free-soilers  in  that  district 
exceeded  seventy-five  hundred,  he  failed  of  an  elec- 
tion by  only  ninety-three  votes.  A  large  portion  of 
the  free-soilers  desired  him  that  year  to  be  a  candi- 
date for  Governor,  and  most  of  the  coalition  Demo- 
crats likewise  desired  his  nomination.  In  a  public 
letter  he  peremptorily  declined  to  be  a  candidate, 
notwithstanding  which  he  received  more  than  a 
third  of  the  votes  of  the  Free-soil  State  Convention 
at  Lowell. 

In  March,  1853,  General  Wilson  was  elected  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  by  the  town  of  Berlin, 
and  also  by  his  own  town  of  Natick.  He  was  not 
absent  from  the  convention  for  an  hour  during  the 
session,  and  the  journal  and  report  of  the  debates 
show  the  active  part  taken  by  him  in  its  transactions. 
During  the  temporary  illness  of  the  president,  Mr. 
Banks,  he  was  chosen  president  pro  tetn.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1853,  he  was  nominated  by  the  Free  Demo- 


262  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

cratic  State  Convention,  as  candidate  for  the  office 
of  Governor.  Out  of  six  hundred  votes  cast  by  the 
convention,  he  received  all  but  three.  At  the  time 
he  was  nominated,  men  of  all  parties  conceded  the 
probability  of  his  election.  Bat  the  letter  of  Caleb 
dishing,  denouncing,  in  behalf  of  the  administration, 
the  cooperation  of  Democrats  and  free-soilers  in 
State  affairs — the  bitter  hostility  of  conservatism 
toward  the  new  constitution,  and  the  Irish  vote 
against  it — all  contributed  to  overthrow  the  State 
reform  party,  and  to  defeat  General  Wilson  and  his 
friends. 

When  the  proposition  was  made  in  1854  to  abro- 
gate the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  country  was  pro- 
foundly excited,  and  the  opponents  of  slavery  exten- 
sion in  all  parties  hoped  to  bring  about  the  union  of 
men  who  were  ready  to  resist  the  slave-power. 
Believing  that  the  time  had  come  to  effect  the  union 
of  men  who  were  opposed  to  the  Kansas  Nebraska 
Act,  Gen.  Wilson  labored  with  unflagging  zeal  to 
accomplish  that  result,  and  for  that  end  he  visited 
Washington,  in  May,  and  consulted  with  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  bill,  to  repeal  the  prohibition  of  slavery 
in  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Returning  home,  he 
avowed  in  the  Free-soil  State  Convention,  assembled 
in  Boston  on  the  31st  of  May,  the  readiness  of  the 
free-soilers  to  abandon  their  organization,  everything 
but  their  principles,  to  bring  about  the  union  of  men 


HENKY   WILSON.  263 

•who  were  ready  to  crush  out  the  members  from  the 
North  who  had  betrayed  the  people,  and  to  sustain 
the  faithful  men  of  all  parties  who  had  been  true  to 
principle,  and  who  were  ready  to  resist  hereafter  the 
policy  of  the  slavery  propagandists.  Speaking  for  the 
men  of  the  free-soil  party,  he  said  they  "  were  ready 
to  go  into  the  rear  ;  if  a  forlorn  hope  was  to  be  led, 
they  would  lead  it ;  they  would  toil ;  others  might 
take  the  lead,  hold  the  offices,  and  win  the  honors. 
The  hour  had  come  to  form  one  great  Republican 
party,  which  should  hereafter  guide  the  policy  and 
control  the  destinies  of  the  Republic.  A  State  Con- 
vention was  called  at  Worcester  on  the  10th  of 
August,  with  the  view  of  uniting  the  people  in  one 
organization,  and  Gen.  Wilson  addressed  the  people 
in  all  sections  of  the  State  in  favor  of  the  fusion,  in 
which  he  assured  men  of  all  political  creeds  that  the 
men  of  the  free-soil  party  would  gladly  yield  to  others 
the  lead  and  the  honors ;  all  they  asked  was  the 
acceptance  of  their  doctrines  of  perpetual  hostility  to 
the  aggressive  policy  of  the  slave  power.  But  the 
leaders  of  the  Whig  party  in  Massachusetts,  then  in 
the  pride  of  power,  resisted  all  attempts  to  unite  the 
people,  and  the  convention  at  Worcester,  on  the  10th 
of  August,  failed  to  accomplish  that  decided  result. 
Gen.  Wilson,  and  other  members  of  the  free-soil 
party  at  this  convention,  again  avowed  their  desire 
for  union,  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  of  freedom,  and 


264  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

their  readiness  to  yield  to  men  of  other  parties,  every- 
thing but  principle.  The  people  desired  fusion,  and 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Whig  leaders,  they  rushed 
into  the  councils  of  the  American  organization  to 
effect  that  object.  Gen.  "Wilson,  finding  that  all 
efforts  to  unite  the  people  in  the  Republican  move- 
ment had  been  defeated  by  men  who  had  personal 
ends  to  secure,  urged  his  friends  to  unite  in  that  ris- 
ing organization,  liberalize  its  platform  and  action, 
and  make  it  a  party  for  freedom.  With  the  view  of 
bringing  about  harmonious  action  among  men  who 
desired  to  unite  the  people,  he  accepted  the  nomina- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  for  Governor,  and  exerted 
every  effort  to  conciliate  and  bring  together  men  in 
favor  of  organizing  a  great  party  of  freedom.  Some  of 
his  political  friends  doubted  the  wisdom  of  his  policy, 
as  they  did  in  1S50  the  wisdom  of  the  coalition  with 
the  Democrats  ;  but  that  coalition  placed  Rantoul  and 
Sumner  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  this 
union  largely  contributed  to  increase  the  influence  of 
anti-slavery  men,  enabling  them  to  choose  a  delega- 
tion to  Congress,  of  true  men,  a  majority  of  whom 
were  free-soilers,  and  to  elect  the  most  radical  anti- 
slavery  legislature  ever  chosen  in  America. 

In  the  elections  of  1854,  the  Americans  had  in  the 
free  States  cooperated  with  men  of  other  parties  in 
opposition  to  the  pro-slavery  policy  of  the  Administra- 
tion. But  in  November  of  that  year,  a  national 


HENKT   WILSON.  265 

council  assembled  at  Cincinnati,  and  through  the 
management  of  southern  men,  anxious  to  win  local 
power,  and  corrupt  and  weak  politicians  from  the 
North,  hungry  for  place,  the  American  organization 
was  placed  in  an  equivocal  attitude  on  the  slavery 
question.  The  work  of  treachery  to  freedom  com- 
menced, and  men  who  had  labored  to  combine  the 
opponents  of  slavery  in  one  organization,  as  Gen. 
Wilson  had  done,  were  marked  for  swift  destruction, 
and  men  who  were  ready  to  compromise  away  the 
cause  of  freedom,  were  to  be  the  trusted  leaders  of 
the  now  nationalized  American  party. 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  which  assembled 
in  January,  1855,  had  to  choose  a  United  State's 
senator  in  place  of  Mr.  Everett,  who  had  resigned 
and  whose  term  expired  on  the  3d  of  March,  1859. 
General  Wilson  had  publicly  and  privately  declared 
that  the  slavery  question  was  with  him  the  para- 
mount question,  and  in  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1854,  while  a  member  of  the  American  organization, 
he  had  at  all  times  openly  labored  to  unite  men  of 
all  parties  for  freedom.  He  had  taken  this  position, 
and  his  declared  opinions  and  acts  were  well  known 
in  and  out  of  his  State,  and  the  men  who  were  ready 
to  sacrifice  the  anti-slavery  cause,  to  adhere  to  the 
compromising  policy  of  the  past,  were  bitterly  hos- 
tile to  his  elevation  to  the  Senate.  But  the  anti- 
slavery  men  in  and  out  of  the  State  were  enthusiastic 

12 


266  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

in  his  support.  He  was  nominated  in  the  caucus  of 
the  members  of  the  legislature,  by  more  than  one 
hundred  majority  on  the  first  ballot.  While  the 
election  was  pending,  several  gentlemen  representing 
that  portion  of  the  party  who  wished  to  nationalize 
the  organization,  called  upon  him,  and  urged  him  to 
write  something  to  modify  his  recorded  opinions,  and 
thus  give  the  men  who  claimed  to  be  national  men,  an 
opportunity  to  assent  to  his  elevation.  In  answer  to 
this  request,  he  said  he  had  not  travelled  a  single  mile, 
expended  a  single  dollar,  nor  conversed  with  a  single 
member  to  secure  votes  for  his  election ; — that  his 
opinions  upon  the  slavery  questions  were  the 
matured  convictions  of  his  life,  and  that  he  would 
not  qualify  them  to  win  the  loftiest  position  on  earth. 
If  elected,  he  should  carry  these  opinions  with  him 
into  the  Senate,  and  if  the  party  with  which  he  acted 
proved  recreant  to  freedom,  he  would,  if  he  had  the 
power,  shiver  it  to  atoms.  His  position  was  dis- 
tinctly avowed  and  fully  comprehended,  and  he  was 
opposed  to  the  end  by  members  who  dissented  from 
his  principles,  and  supported  and  chosen  by  men 
who  concurred  with  him  in  opinion  and  policy.  He 
received  234  to  130  votes  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  21  to  19  votes  in  the  Senate,  and 
took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on 
the  8th  of  February,  1855. 

When  he   arrived  in  "Washington,  leading  politi- 


HENRY   WILSON.  267 

cians  were  assembled  there  from  the  South,  endeavor- 
ing to  organize  a  National  American  party,  which 
should  ignore  the  slavery  issues,  and  contest  the 
supremacy  of  the  Democracy  in  the  South.  In  his 
.speech  at  Springfield,  before  the  State  Council,  he 
thus  described  the  efforts  made  to  seduce  him  to 
assent  to  this  policy  : 

"On  my  arrival  at  Washington,  I  saw  at  a  glance  that 
the  politicians  of  the  South — men  who  had  deserted  their 
northern  associates  upon  the  Nebraska  issue,  were  resolved 
to  impose  upon  the  American  party  by  the  aid  of  doughfaces 
from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  as  the  test  of  nationality, 
fidelity  to  the  slave  power.  Flattering  words  from  veteran 
statesmen  were  poured  into  my  ears — flattering  appeals  were 
made  to  me  to  aid  in  the  work  of  nationalizing  the  party 
whose  victories  in  the  South  were  to  be  as  brilliant  as  they 
had  been  in  the  North.  But  I  resolved  that  upon  my  soul 
the  sin  and  shame  of  silence  or  submission  should  never  rest. 
I  returned  home,  determined  to  baffle  if  I  could  the  medi- 
tated treason  to  freedom  and  to  the  North." 

Two  weeks  after  taking  his  seat,  he  addressed 
the  senate  upon  Mr.  Toucey's  "  bill  to  protect  persons 
executing  the  fugitive  slave  act,  from  prosecution  by 
State  courts."  Extracts  from  this  speech  show  that 
his  sentiments  had  undergone  no  change  in  "Wash- 
ington, under  the  pressing  influences  of  political 
leaders : 

"  Now,  sir,  I  assure  senators  from  the  Soutn,  that  we  of 
the  free  States  mean  to  change  our  policy — I  tell  you, 


268  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

frankly,  just  how  we  feel  and  just  what  we  propose  to  do. 
We  mean  to  withdraw  from  these  halls  that  class  of  pubh'c 
men  who  have  betrayed  us  and  deceived  you  ;  men  who 
have  misrepresented  us,  and  not  dealt  frankly  with  you. 
And  we  intend  to  send  men  into  these  halls  who  will  truly 
represent  us  and  deal  justly  with  you.  We  mean,  sir,  to 
place  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  men  who,  in  the  words  of 
Jefferson,  '  have  sworn  on  the  altar  of  God  eternal  hostility 
to  every  kind  of  oppression  of  the  mind  and  body  of  man.' 
Yes,  sir,  we  mean  to  place  in  the  national  councils  men  who 
cannot  be  seduced  by  the  blandishments,  or  deterred  by  the 
threats  of  power  ;  men  who  will  fearlessly  maintain  our  prin- 
ciples. I  assure  senators  from  the  South  that  the  people  of 
the  North  entertain  for  them  and  their  people  no  feelings  of 
hostility  ;  but  they  will  no  longer  consent  to  be  misrepresented 
by  their  own  representatives,  nor  proscribed  for  their  fidelity 
to  freedom.  This  determination  of  the  people  of  the  North 
has  manifested  itself  during  the  past  few  months  in  a,cts  not 
to  be  misread  by  the  country.  The  stern  rebuke  adminis- 
tered to  faithless  northern  representatives,  and  the  annihila- 
tion of  old  and  powerful  political  organizations,  should  teach 
senators  that  the  days  of  waning  power  are  upon  them.  This 
action  of  the  people  teaches  the  lesson,  which  I  hope  will  be 
heeded,  that  political  combinations  can  no  longer  be  success- 
fully made  to  suppress  the  sentiments  of  the  people.  We 
believe  we  have  the  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  all  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Union  ;  that,  if  slavery  exists  there,  it  exists  by 
the  permission  and  sanction  of  the  Federal  Government,  aud 
we  are  responsible  for  it.  We  are  in  favor  of  its  abolition 
wherever  we  are  morally  or  legally  responsible  for  its  exis- 
tence. 

"  I  believe  conscientiously,  that  if  slavery  should  be 
abolished  by  the  National  Government  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  the  territories,  the  fugitive  slave  act 
repealed,  the  Federal  Government  relieved  from  all  conuec- 


HENRY   WILSON.  269 

tion  with,  or  responsibility  for  the  existence  of  slavery,  these 
angry  debates  banished  from  the  halls  of  Congress,  and 
slavery  left  to  the  people  of  the  States,  that  the  men  of  the 
South  who  are  opposed  to  the  existence  of  that  institution, 
would  get  rid  of  it  in  their  own  States  at  no  distant  day.  I 
believe  that  if  slavery  is  ever  peacefully  abolished  in  this 
country — and  I  certainly  believe  it  will  be — it  must  be  abol- 
ished in  this  way. 

"  The  senator  from  Indiana  [Mr.  Pettit]  has  made  a  long 
argument  to-night  to  prove  the  inferiority  of  the  African 
race.  Well,  sir,  I  have  no  contest  with  the  senator  upon 
that  question.  I  do  not  claim  for  that  race  intellectual 
equality  ;  but  I  say  to  the  senator  from  Indiana  that  I 
know  men  of  that  race  who  are  quite  equal  in  mental  power 
to  either  the  senator  from  Indiana  or  myself — men  who  are 
scarcely  inferior,  in  that  respect,  to  any  senators  upon  this 
floor.  But,  sir,  suppose  the  senator  from  Indiana  succeeds 
in  establishing  the  inferiority  of  that  despised  race,  is  men- 
tal inferiority  a  valid  reason  for  the  perpetual  oppression  of 
a  race  ?  Is  the  mental,  moral,  or  physical  inferiority  of  a 
man  a  just  cause  of  oppression  in  republican  and  Christian 
America  ?  Sir,  is  this  Democracy  ?  Is  it  Christianity  ? 
Democracy  cares  for  the  poor,  the  lowly,  the  humble. 
Democracy  demands  that  the  panoply  of  just  and  equal  laws 
shall  shield  and  protect  the  weakest  of  the  sons  of  men.  Sir, 
these  are  strange  doctrines  to  hear  uttered  in  the  Senate  of 
republican  America,  whose  political  institutions  are  based 
upon  the  fundamental  idea  that  '  all  men  are  created  equal/ 
If  the  African  race  is  inferior,  this  proud  race  of  ours  should 
educate  and  elevate  it,  and  not  deny  to  those  who  belong  to 
it  the  rights  of  our  common  humanity.  % 

"  The  senator  from  Indiana  boasts  that  his  State  imposes 
a  fine  upon  the  white  man  that  gives  employment  to  the  free 
black  man.  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  degradation  of  the 
colored  people  of  Indiana,  who  are  compelled  to  live  under 


270  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

such  inhuman  laws,  and  oppressed  by  the  public  sentiment 
that  enacts  and  sustains  them.  I  thank  God,  sir,  Massachu- 
setts is  not  dishonored  by  such  laws  I  In  Massachusetts 
we  have  about  seven  thousand  colored  people.  They  have 
the  same  rights  that  we  have  ;  they  go  to  our  free  schools, 
they  enter  all  the  business  and  professional  relations  of  life, 
they  vote  in  our  elections,  and  in  intelligence  and  character 
are  scarcely  inferior  to  the  citizens  of  this  proud  and  peerless 
race  whose  superiority  we  have  heard  so  vauntingly  pro- 
claimed to-night  by  the  senators  from  Tennessee  and  Indiana." 

Returning  home  at  the  close  of  the  session,  he 
warned  his  personal  friends  and  political  associates 
that  the  American  organization,  which  had  acted 
with  the  anti-Nebraska  men  in  the  North,  was  to  be 
seduced  by  the  South,  and  betrayed  by  men  in  the 
North,  who  assumed  to  control  its  actions.  On  the 
8th  of  May,  he  delivered  an  address  before  a  large 
assemblage  in  the  Metropolitan  Theatre  in  New 
York,  upon  the  development  of  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  in  America  for  twenty  years,  from  1835  to 
1855.  On  this  occasion  he  declared  that : 

"  He  owed  it  to  truth  to  speak  what  he  knew — that  the 
anti-slavery  cause  was  in  extreme  peril — that  a  demand  was 
made  upon  us  of  the  North  to  ignore  the  slavery  question,  to 
keep  quiet,  and  go  into  power  in  1856.  If  there  were  men 
in  the  free  States  who  hoped  to  triumph  in  1856  by  ignoring 
the  slavery  issues  now  forced  upon  the  nation  by  the  slave 
propagandists,  he  would  say  to  them,  that  the  anti-slavery 
men  cannot  be  reduced  or  driven  into  the  organization  of  a 
party  that  ignores  the  question  of  slavery  in  Christian  and 
Republican  America.  Let  such  men  read  and  ponder  the 


HENRY   WILSON.  271 

history  of  the  Republic  ;  let  them  contrast  anti-slavery  in 
1835  and  anti-slavery  in  1855.  Those  periods  are  the 
grand  epochs  in  the  anti-slavery  movement,  and  the  con- 
trast between  them  cannot  fail  to  give  us  some  faint  concep- 
tion of  the  mighty  changes  that  twenty  years  of  anti-slavery 
agitation  have  wrought  in  America.  Anti-slavery  in  1835 
was  in  the  nadir  of  its  weakness  ;  anti-slavery  in  1855  is  in  the 
zenith  of  its  power.  Then,  a  few  unknown,  nameless  men 
were  its  apostles  and  leaders  ;  now,  the  most  profound  and 
accomplished  intellects  of  America  are  its  chiefs  and  cham- 
pions. Then,  a  few  proscribed  and  humble  followers  rallied 
around  its  banner  ;  now,  it  has  laid  its  grasp  upon  the 
conscience  of  the  people,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  rally 
under  the  folds  of  its  flag.  Then,  not  a  single  statesman  in 
all  America  accepted  its  doctrines  or  defended  its  measures  ; 
now,  it  has  a  decisive  majority  in  the  national  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  is  rapidly  changing  the  complexion  of  the 
American  Senate.  Then,  every  State  in  the  Union  was 
arrayed  against  it  ;  now,  it  controls  fifteen  sovereign  States  by 
more  than  300,000  popular  majority.  Then,  the  public  press 
covered  it  with  ridicule  and  contempt  ;  now,  the  most  power- 
ful journals  in  America  are  its  instruments.  Then,  the 
benevolent,  religious  and  literary  institutions  of  the  land 
repulsed  its  advances,  rebuked  its  doctrines  and  persecuted 
its  advocates  ;  now,  it  shapes,  molds  and  fashions  them  at 
its  pleasure,  compelling  the  most  powerful  benevolent  organ- 
izations of  the  western  world,  upon  whose  mission  stations 
the  sun  never  sets,  to  execute  its  decress,  and  the  oldest 
literary  institution  in  America  to  cast  from  its  bosom  a 
professor  who  had  surrendered  a  man  to  the  slave  hunters. 
Then,  the  political  organizations  trampled  disdainfully  upon 
it  ;  now,  it  looks  down  with  the  pride  of  conscious  power 
upon  the  wrecked  political  fragments  that  float  at  its  feet. 
Then,  it  was  impotent  and  powerless  ;  now  it  holds  every 
political  organization  in  the  hollow  of  its  right  hand.  Then, 


272  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  public  voice  sneered  at  and  defied  it  ;  now  it  is  the 

master  of  America   and  has  only  to  be  true   to  itself  to 

grasp  the  helm  and  guide  the  ship  of  State  hereafter  in  her 
course." 

"  This  brief  contrast,"  he  said,  "  would  show  the 
men  who  hoped  to  win  power  by  ignoring  the  trans- 
cendent issue  of  our  age  in  America,  how  impotent 
would  be  the  efforts  of  any  class  of  men  to  withdraw 
the  mighty  questions  involved  in  the  existence  and 
expansion  of  slavery  on  this  continent,  from  the  con- 
sideration of  the  people."  To  the  idea  of  going  into 
power  by  sacrificing  the  anti-slavery  cause,  he 
replied : 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  say  to  you  frankly,  I  am  the  last  man 
to  object  to  going  into  power  [laughter],  and  especially  to 
going  into  power  over  the  present  dynasty  that  is  fastened 
upon  the  country.  But  I  am  the  last  man  that  will  consent 
to  go  into  power  by  ignoring  or  sacrificing  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. [Applause.]  If  my  voice  could  be  heard  by  the 
whole  country  to-night — by  the  anti-slavery  men  of  the 
country  to-night  of  all  parties,  I  would  say  to  them,  resolve 
it — write  it  over  your  door-posts — engrave  it  on  the  lids  of 
your  Bibles — proclaim  it  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  and  the 
going  down  of  the  sun,  and  in  the  broad  light  of  noon,  that 
any  party  in  America,  be  that  party  Whig,  Democratic,  or 
American,  that  lifts  its  finger  to  arrest  the  anti-slavery 
movement,  to  repress  the  anti-slavery  sentiment,  or  proscribe 
the  anti-slavery  men,  it  surely  shall  begin  to  die — [loud 
applause] — it  would  deserve  to  die  ;  it  will  die  ;  and  by  the 
blessing  of  God  I  shall  do  what  little  I  can  to  make  it  die." 

This  address  was  repeated  in  Boston,  "Worcester, 


HENRY   WILSON.  273 

Springfield,  Lowell,  Dorchester,  and  other  places  in 
Massachusetts,  and  General  Wilson  was  branded  as 
an  agitator,  traitor,  and  disorganize!*,  by  men  who 
had  been  for  six  months  secretly  and  darkly  intrigu- 
ing to  betray  the  liberty-loving  men  who  had  given 
the  American  organization  power  in  the  free  States. 
This  feeling  of  hostility  was  heightened  by  the  pub- 
lication of  his  speech,  delivered  on  the  16th  of  May, 
at  Brattleborough,  Yt.,  "  On  the  position  and  duty  of 
the  American  party."  In  this  speech  he  said  that 

"  The  time  has  come  for  the  advocates  of  the  American 
movement  distinctly  to  define  their  principles  and  their 
policy. 

"  If  the  American  party  is  to  achieve  anything  for  good, 
it  must  adopt  a  wise  and  humane  policy  consistent  with  our 
Democratic  ideas — a  policy  which  will  reform  existing  abuses 
and  guard  against  future  ones — tfhich  shall  combine  in  one 
harmonious  organization  moderate  and  patriotic  men  who 
love  freedom  and  hate  oppression.  Upon  the  grand  and 
overshadowing  question  of  American  slavery,  the  American 
party  must  take  its  position.  If  it  wishes  a  speedy  death 
and  a  dishonored  grave,  let  it  adopt  the  policy  of  neutrality 
upon  that  question  or  the  policy  of  ignoring  that  question. 
If  that  party  wishes  to  live,  to  impress  its  policy  upon  the 
nation,  it  must  repudiate  the  sectional  policy  of  slavery  and 
stand  boldly  upon  the  broad  and  national  basis  of  freedom.  It 
must  accept  the  position  that  '  Freedom  is  national  and 
slavery  is  sectional.'  It  must  stand  upon  the  national  idea 
embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence — that  'all 
men  are  created  equal,  and  have  an'  inalienable  right  to  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.'.  It  must  accept  these 
words  as  embracing  the  great  central  national  idea  of 

12* 


274  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

America,  fidelity  to  which  is  national  in  New  England  and 
in  South  Carolina.  It  must  recognize  the  doctrine  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  made  '  to  secure  the 
blessing  of  liberty,' — that  Congress  has  no  right  to  make  a 
slave  or  allow  slavdry  to  exist  outside  of  the  slave  States, 
aad  that  the  Federal  Government  must  be  relieved  from  all 
connection  with,  and  responsibility  for  slavery. 

"  In  their  own  good  time  the  Americans  of  Massachusetts 
have  spoken  for  themselves.  They  have  placed  that  old 
Commonwealth  face  to  face  to  the  slave  oligarchy  and  its 
allies.  Upon  their  banner  they  have  written  in  letters  of 
living  light  the  words,  '  No  exclusion  from  the  public  schools 
on  account  of  race  or  color.' — '  No  slave  commissioners  on 
the  judicial  bench.' — '  No  slave  States  to  be  carved  out  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska.' — '  The  repeal  of  the  unconstitutional 
fugitive  slave  act  of  1850.' — '  An  act  to  protect  personal 
Lbtrty.'  The  men  who  have  inscribed  these  glowing  words 
upon  their  banner  will  go  into  the  conflicts  of  the  future  like 
the  Zouaves  at  Inkermann,  '^with  the  light  of  battle  on  their 
faces,' — and  if  defeat  comes,  they  will  fall  with  their  '  backs 
to  the  field,  and  their  feet  to  the  foe.' " 

Early  in  June,  1855,  the  American  National  Coun- 
cil assembled  at  Philadelphia.  General  Wilson  was 
a  delegate,  and  his  position  in  the  Senate,  and  his 
avowed  sentiments,  opinions  and  policy,  brought 
him  at  once  into  conflict  with  the  men  in  and  out  of 
the  council,  who  were  intriguing  to  make  the  Ameri- 
can organization  an  instrument  of  the  slave  power. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  keep  him  out  of  the  council, 
on  account  of  the  sentiments  he  had  expressed,  and 
to  draw  off  the  Massachusetts  delegation  from  him ; 


HEXliY    WILSON.  275 

but  they  stood  by  him,  and  thus  baffled  the  designs 
of  the  plotters.  On  taking  his  seat  in  the  council,  he 
was  at  once  recognized  by  friends  and  foes  as  the 
leader  of  the  North — the  representative  of  the  anti- 
slavery  men  of  the  free  States.  The  National  Coun- 
cil sat  for  more  than  one  week,  and  during  that  time 
it  was  the  scene  of  stormy,  exciting  and  angry  dis- 
cussion upon  the  slavery  question.  Early  in  the 
debate,  a  delegate  from  Virginia  made  a  fierce 
personal  attack  upon  him,  quoting  from  his  speeches, 
and  denouncing  him  as  the  .leader  of  the  anti-slavery 
men  of  the  North,  who  had  come  into  the  council  to 
rule  or  to  destroy.  General  Wilson  promptly  replied 
to  this  assault,  and  defiantly  told  the  delegate  from 
Yirginia  and  his  compeers,  that  "his  threats  had  no 
terrors  for  free  men — that  he  was  then  and  there 
ready  to  meet  argument  with  argument — scorn  with 
scorn — and  if  need,  be,  blow  with  blow,  for  God  had 
given  him  an  arm  ready  and  able  to  protect  his 
head  !  It  was  time  the  champions  of  slavery  in  the 
South  should  realize  the  fact,  that  the  past  was 
theirs — the  future  ours."  The  debate  went  on,  and 
on  the  1 2th  of  June,  General  Wilson  made  an  elabo- 
rate speech  in  reply  to  the  assaults  made  upon  the 
North  and  upon  the  anti-slavery  men,  by  both 
southern  and  northern  delegates.  To  the  assaults 
made  upon  Massachusetts  by  some  of  the  delegates 
from  New  York,  he  said :  "  When  Massachusetts 


276  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

pleads  to  any  arraignment  before  the  nation,  she  will 
demand  that  her  accusers  are  competent  to  draw  the 
bill."  To  the  men  of  the  South  who  had  denounced 
the  action  of  Massachusetts,  he  replied : 

"  But  gentlemen  of  talents  and  of  character  have  under- 
taken here  to  arraign  Massachusetts.  To  those  gentlemen  I 
have  to  say,  that  Massachusetts  means  to  go  to  the  very  verge 
of  her  constitutional  powers,  to  protect  the  personal  rights 
of  her  people  !  She  means  to  exercise  her  constitutional 
rights,  for  the  security  of  the  liberties  of  her  people,  against 
what  she  deems  to  be  unconstitutional,  inhuman  and  unchrist- 
ian legislation  ;  and  I  tell  you  frankly,  if  any  constitutional 
powers  are  in  doubt,  she  will  construe  them  in  favor  of 
liberty  ;  not  in  favor  of  slavery.  In  the  future,  if  she  errs 
at  all,  in  the  interpretation  of  her  reserved  rights,  as  a 
sovereign  State,  I  trust  she  will  go  a  little  beyond  the  limits 
of  State  sovereignty,  rather  than  fall  short  of  marching  up 
to  those  limits.  The  personal  liberties  of  her  people  demand 
that  she  should  do  so. 

"  Massachusetts  has  the  right,  if  she  chooses,  to  remove 
from  her  judicial  bench,  any  officers  who  shall  consent  to 
perform  the  duties  imposed  upon  United  States  commission- 
ers. She  denies  your  right,  gentlemen,  to  arraign  her  here 
or  elsewhere  for  the  exercise  of  her  own  constitutional 
powers.  By  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States, Massachusetts  has  a  right  to  forbid  the  use  of  her  prisons 
— she  has  a  right  to  forbid  her  officers  from  engaging  in  the 
extradition  of  fugitives  from  labor.  She  believes  that  every 
human  being  within  her  limits,  has  a  right  to  the  benefits  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  to  a  jury  trial.  She  pro- 
poses to  test  the  question  by  the  judicial  authorities.  Her 
'  offence  hath  that  extent,  no  more.'  Massachusetts  stands 
upon  the  State  rights  doctrines  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky, 


HENRY   WILSON.  277 

of  1798  and  1799.  She  raises  no  standard  of  nullification 
or  rebellion — she  will  submit  to  the  decisions  of  those  tribu- 
nals authorized  to  expound  the  judicial  powers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

"  The  gentleman  from  Alabama  (Judge  Hopkins),  has 
hinted  to  us  that  the  Southern  States  may  find  it  necessary 
to  protect  themselves  against  this  action  of  Massachusetts, 
by  legislation  that  shall  touch  her  material  interests. 
Threats  of  that  kind,  sir,  have  no  terrors  for  Massachusetts. 
Her  people  will  laugh  to  scorn  all  such  idle  threats,  by 
whomsoever  made.  Massachusetts,  with  one  million  of  intel- 
ligent people,  with  free  schools,  free  churches,  free  labor,  is 
competent  to  take  care  of  her  own  material  interests.  '  Her 
goods  are  for  sale — not  her  principles.'  If  gentlemen  from 
the  South  expect  to  intimidate  Massachusetts  by  such 
threats,  I  tell  them  here  and  now,  that  we  scorn,  spurn  and 
defy  your  threats." 

Of  the  proposed  national  platform  he  said : 

"The  adoption  of  this  platform  commits  the  American 
party  unconditionally  to  the  policy  of  slavery — to  the  iron 
dominion  of  the  Black  Power.  I  tell  you,  sir,  I  tell  this 
convention,  that  we  cannot  stand  upo  i  this  platform  in  a  sin- 
gle free  State  of  the  North.  The  people  of  the  North  will 
repudiate  it,  spurn  it,  spit  upon  it.  For  myself,  sir,  I  here 
and  now  tell  you  to  your  faces,  that  I  will  trample  with  dis- 
dain on  your  platform.  I  will  not  support  it.  I  will  sup- 
port no  man  who  stands  upon  it.  Adopt  that  platform,  and 
you  array  against  you  everything  that  is  pure  and  holy — 
everything  that  has  the  elements  of  permanency  in  it — the 
noblest  pulsations  of  the  human  heart — the  holiest  convic- 
tions of  the  human  soul — the  profoundest  ideas  of  the  human 
intellect  and  the  attributes  of  Almighty  God  !  Your  party 
will  be  withered  and  consumed  by  the  blasting  breath  of  the 


278  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

people's  wrath  !  There  is  an  old  Spanish  proverb,  which 
says  that  '  the  feet  of  the  avenging  deities  are  shod  with 
wool.'  Softly  and  silently  these  avenging  deities  are  ad- 
vancing upon  you.  You  will  find  that '  the  mills  of  God  grind 
slowly,  but  they  grind  to  powder.' 

"When  I  united  with  the  American  organization  in 
March,  1854,  in  its  hour  of  weakness — I  told  the  men  with 
whom  I  acted  that  my  anti-slavery  opinions  were  the  ma- 
tured convictions  of  years,  and  that  I  would  not  modify  or 
qualify  my  opinions  or  suppress  my  sentiments  for  any  con- 
sideration on  earth.  From  that  hour  to  this,  in  public  and 
in  private,  I  have  freely  uttered  my  anti-slavery  sentiments, 
and  labored  to  promote  the  anti-slavery  cause,  and  I  tell 
you  now,  that  I  will  continue  to  do  so.  You  shall  not  pro- 
scribe anti-slavery  principles,  measures  or  men,  without 
receiving  from  me  the  most  determined  and  unrelenting  hos- 
tility. It  is  a  painful  thing  to  differ  from  our  associates  and 
friends — but  when  duty,  a  stern  sense  of  duty,  demands  it, 
I  shall  do  so.  Reject  this  majority  platform — adopt  the 
proposition  to  restore  freedom  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and 
to  protect  the  actual  settlers  from  violence  and  outrage — 
simplify  your  rules — make  an  open  organization — banish  all 
bigotry  and  intolerance  from  your  ranks — place  your  move- 
ment in  harmony  with  the  humane  progressive  spirit  of  the 
age,  and  you  may  win  and  retain  power,  and  elevate  and 
improve  the  political  character  of  the  country.  Adopt  this 
majority  platform — commit  the  American  movement  to  the 
slave  perpetualists  and  the  slave  propagandists,  and  you  will 
go  down  before  the  burning  indignation  and  withering  scorn 
of  American  freemen." 

But  the  pro-slavery  platform  was  adopted,  and  most 
of  the  delegates  from  the  North  retired  from  the 
National  Council.  A  meeting  was  at  once  held,  over 


HENRY   WILSON.  279 

which  General  Wilson  presided.  This  meeting 
adopted  a  protest  against  the  action  of  the  council, 
and  announced  theis  final  separation  from  the 
national  organization.  The  American  organization 
was  shivered  to  atoms,  and  no  man  contributed  more 
to  that  result  than  General  Wilson ;  and  in  doing  it 
he  but  redeemed  the  words  he  had  uttered  while  his 
election  to  the  Senate  was  pending.  The  New  York 
"  Tribune,"  referring  to  the  action  of  the  council,  said  : 

"  The  antecedents  of  Mr.  Wilson  naturally  made  him  the 
particular  object  of  hostility  to  the  slave-drivers  in  the  con- 
vention ;  and  one  of  the  earliest  displays  after  the  body  was 
organized,  was  a  grossly  personal  attack  upon  him  by  a  dele- 
gate from  Virginia.  But  the  assailants  had  now  met  an 
antagonist  who  was  not  to  be  cowed  or  silenced,  and  the 
response  they  received  was  of  a  character  to  induce  them  not 
to  repeat  their  experiment.  We  have  the  unanimous  testi- 
mony of  many  northern  members  of  the  convention  to  the 
signal  gallantry  and  effect  of  Mr.  Wilson's  bearing,  and  to  the 
bold,  virile  and  telling  eloquence  of  his  speeches.  While  all 
have  done  so  well  in  bringing  about  results  so  gratifying,  it 
may  be  invidious  to  particularize  ;  but  a  few  names  among 
the  northern  members,  who  were  devoted  from  the  start  to 
the  work  of  creating  a  unity  and  a  strength  of  northern  back- 
bone, should  justly  be  exposed  to  the  public  appreciation  and 
honor  that  they  deserve.  First  stands  Henry  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts,  preeminent  as  the  leader  in  the  whole  movement. 
He  was  handsomely  sustained  by  all  his  associates,  and  the 
numerous  insidious  efforts  of  the  enemy  to  separate  them 
from  him,  only  attached  them  the  more  closely  to  his  side. 
He  has  the  highest  honor  in  this  contest,  exhibited  the  great- 
est political  ability,  and  broke  down  many  strong  prejudices 


280  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

against  him,  both  among  Massachusetts  men  who  were  wit- 
nesses to  his  conduct,  and  among  the  delegates  of  the  other 
States,  North  and  South.  No  man  went  into  that  council  with 
more  elements  of  distrust  and  opposition  combined  against 
him  ;  no  one  goes  out  of  it  with  such  an  enviable  fame,  or 
such  an  aggregation  to  his  honor.  He  is  worthy  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  worthy  to  lead  the  new  movement  of  the  peo- 
ple of  that  State,  which  the  result  here  so  fitly  inaugurates." 

General  TVilson,  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1855,  visited  thirteen  States,  travelled  more  than 
twenty  thousand  miles,  consulted  with  leading  men 
of  all  parties,  and  addressed  tens  of  thousands  of  peo- 
ple in  favor  of  the  fusion  of  men  of  all  parties  for 
freedom.  In  the  State  council  of  the  Americans  of 
Massachusetts,  at  Springfield,  on  the  Yth  of  August, 
he  made  an  elaborate  speech  on  the  "  necessity  of  the 
fusion  of  parties,"  in  which  he  invoked  the  members 
to  sustain  the  resolution  announcing  the  readiness  of 
the  Americans  "  to  unite  and  cooperate  with  "  men  of 
other  parties,  in  forming  a  great  party  of  freedom. 
On  that  occasion  he  said : 

"  The  gathering  hosts  of  northern  freemen,  of  every 
party  and  creed,  are  banding  together  to  resist  the  aggres- 
sive policy  of  the  Black  Power.  Freedom,  patriotism, 
and  humanity  demand  the  union  of  the  freemen  of  the  Repub- 
lic, for  the  sake  of  liberty  now  perilled.  Religion  sanctions 
and  blesses  it. 

"  How  and  where  stands  Massachusetts  ?  Shall  she 
range  herself  in  line,  front  to  the  Black  Power,  with  her 
sister  States  ?  or  shall  she  maintain  the  fatal  position  of 


HENEY   WILSON.  281 

isolation  ?  Here  and  now,  we,  the  chosen  representatives  of 
the  American  party  of  this  Commonwealth,  are  to  meet  that 
issue,  to  solve  that  problem. 

"The  American  party  of  Massachusetts,  dashing  other 
organizations  into  powerless  fragments,  had  grasped  the 
reins  of  power,  placed  an  unbroken  delegation  in  Congress 
pledged  to  the  policy  of  freedom,  ranged  this  ancient  Com- 
monwealth front  to  front  with  the  slave  power,  and  written, 
with  the  iron  pen  of  history,  upon  her  statutes,  declarations 
of  principles  and  pledges  of  acts  hostile  to  the  aggressive 
policy  of  the  slaveholding  power.  When  the  Black  Power 
of  the  imperious  South,  aided  by  tl»»  servile  power  of  the 
faltering  North,  imposed  upon  the  national  American  organi- 
zation its  principles,  measures  and  policy,  the  representatives 
of  the  American  party  of  this  Commonwealth,  spurned  the 
unhallowed  decrees,  turned  their  backs,  forever,  upon  that 
prostituted  organization,  and  their  action  received  the  approv- 
ing sanction  of  this  State  council  by  a  vote  approaching 
unanimity.  The  American  party,  as  a  national  organiza- 
tion, is  broken  and  shivered  to  atoms.  By  its  own  act  the 
American  party  of  Massachusetts  has  severed  itself  from  all 
connection  with  that  product  of  southern  domination  and 
northern  submission. 

"The  American  party  of  Massachusetts  has,  during  its 
brief  existence,  uttered  true  words  and  performed  noble 
deeds  for  freedom.  The  past  at  least  is  secure.  Whatever 
•may  have  been  its  errors  of  omission  or  commission,  the 
slave  and  the  slave's  friends  will  never  reproach  it.  Hold- 
ing, as  it  does,  the  reins  of  power,  it  has  now  a  glorious 
opportunity  to  give  to  the  country  the  magnanimous  example 
of  a  great  and  dominant  party,  in  the  full  possession  of  con- 
summated power,  freely  yielding  up  that  power,  for  the  holy 
cause  of  freedom,  to  the  equal  possession  of  other  parties, 
who  are  willing  to  cooperate  with  it  upon  a  common  plat- 
form. Here  and  now,  we,  its  representatives,  are  to  show  by 


282  PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES 

our  acts  whether  we  can  rise  above  the  demands  of  partisan 
policy,  to  the  full  comprehension  of  the  condition  of  public 
affairs — to  the  full  realization  of  the  obligations  which  fidel- 
ity to  freedom  now  imposes  upon  us. 

"  If  the  representatives  of  the  American  party  reject  this 
proposition  for  fusion,  I  shall  go  home  once  more  with  a  sad 
heart — but  I  shall  not  go  home  to  sulk  in  my  tent — to  rail 
and  fret  at  the  folly  of  men  ;  I  shall  go  home,  sir,  with  a 
resolved  spirit  and  iron  will,  determined  to  hope  on  and  to 
struggle  on,  until  I  see  the  lovers  of  universal  and  impartial 
freedom  banded  together  in  one  organization — moved  by  one 
impulse.  For  seven  Jjters  I  have  labored  to  break  up  old 
organizations,  and  to  make  new  combinations,  all  tending  to 
the  organization  of  that  great  party  of  the  future,  which  is 
to  relieve  the  government  from  the  iron  dominion  of  the 
Black  Power. 

4"  Sir,  gentlemen  may  defeat  this  proposed  fusion  here 
to-day,  but  they  cannot  control  the  action  of  the  people.  A 
fusion  movement  will  be  made  under  the  lead  of  gentlemen 
of  the  Whig,  Democratic  and  Free-soil  parties,  of  talents 
and  character.  The  movement  will  be  in  harmony  with  the 
people's  movements  in  the  North.  Sir,  such  a  movement 
will  put  a  majority  of  the  men,  who  voted  with  you  last 
autumn,  in  a  false  position  before  the  country,  or  drive  them 
from  your  ranks.  I  cannot  speak  for  others,  but  I  tell  you 
frankly,  that  I  cannot  be  placed  in  a  false  position — I  can- 
not, even  for  one  moment,  consent  to  stand  arrayed  against 
the  hosts  of  freedom  now  preparing  for  the  contest  of  1856. 
I  tell  you  frankly  that  whenever  I  see  a  formation  in  position 
to  strike  effective  blows  for  freedom,  I  shall  be  with  it  in  the 
conflict — whenever  I  see  an  organization  in  position  antag- 
onistic to  freedom,  my  arm  shall  aid  in  smiting  it  down." 

The  proposition  for  a  union  of  the  people  was 
lost  by  a  small  vote,  and  the  twenty-one  years' 


HENKT   WILSON.  283 

amendment  adopted  by  a  small  majority.  Against 
the  twenty-one  years  proposition,  General  Wilson 
said: 

"  Sir,  the  American  movement  is  not  based  upon  bigotry, 
intolerance  or  proscription.  If  there  is  anything  of  bigotry, 
intolerance  or  proscription  in  the  American  movement — if 
there  is  any  disposition  to  oppress  or  degrade  the  Briton,  the 
Scot,  the  Celt,  the  German  or  any  one  of  another  clime  or 
race,  or  to  deny  to  them  the  fullest  protection  of  just  and 
equal  laws,  it  is  time  such  criminal  fanaticism  was  sternly  re- 
buked by  the  intelligent  patriotism  of  the  State  and  country. 
I  deeply  deplore,  sir,  the  adoption  of  the  twenty-one  years 
amendment.  It  will  weaken  the  American  movement  at 
home  and  in  other  States,  especially  in  the  West,  and  tend 
to  defeat  any  modification  whatever  of  the  naturalization* 
laws.  I  warn  gentlemen,  who  desire  the  correction  of  the 
evils  growing  out  of  the  abuses  of  the  naturalization  laws, 
against  the  adoption  of  extreme  opinions.  I  tell  you,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  council,  that  this  intense  nativism  kills — yes, 
sir,  it  kills  and  is  killing  us,  and  unless  it  is  speedily  aban- 
doned, will  defeat  all  the  needed  reforms  the  movement  was 
inaugurated  to  secure,  and  overwhelm  us  all  in  dishonor. 
Every  attempt,  by  whomsoever  made,  to  interpolate  into  the 
American  movement,  anything  inconsistent  with  the  theory 
of  our  democratic  institutions — anything  inconsistent  with 
the  idea  that  '  all  men  are  created  equal ' — anything  con- 
trary to  the  commands  of  God's  Holy  Word  that  '  the 
stranger  that  dwelleth  with  you  shall  be  unto  you  as  one 
born  among  you,  and  thou  shalt  love  him  as  thyself,' — is 
doing  tha-t  which  will  baffle  the  wise  policy  which  tries  to 
reform  existing  evils  and  to  guard  against  future  abuses." 

General  Wilson    engaged    with    his   accustomed 
industry  and  energy  in  the  practical  business,  and  in 


284  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  exciting  debates  of  the  memorable  session  of 
1855-6.  In  February,  he  made  a  speech  on  the 
affairs  of  Kansas,  replete  with  facts  not  then  familiar 
to  the  country.  This  speech  went  through  three 
editions,  and  nearly  200,000  copies  were  circulated 
through  the  free  States.  In  April,  General  Wilson 
made  a  speech  in  favor  of  receiving  the  petition  of 
the  Topeka  Legislature  for  admission  into  the  Union, 
and  on  this  occasion  in  reply  to  the  taunts  of  Mr. 
Douglas  about  "  Amalgam ationists,"  he  said : 

"  Mr.  President,  the  senator  from  Illinois  tells  us,  with 
an  air  of  proud  assurance,  that  the  State~he  represents  does 
.not  believe  the  negro  the  equal  of  the  white  man  ;  that  she 
is  opposed  to  placing  that  degraded  race  upon  terms  of 
equality  ;  that  she  had  a  right  to  enact  her  black  laws  : 
and  that  if  we  of  Massachusetts  do  not  like  those  acts,  she 
does  not  care.  Illinois,  he  tells  us,  does  not  wish  the  blood 
of  the  white  race  to  mingle  with  the  blood  of  the  inferior 
race — Massachusetts  can  do  otherwise  if  she  chooses.  Let 
me  tell  the  honorable  senator  from  Illinois,  that  these 
taunts,  so  often  flung  out  about  the  equality  of  races,  about 
amalgamation,  and  the  mingling  of  blood,  are  the  emana- 
tions of  low  and  vulgar  minds.  These  taunts  usually  come 
from  men  with  the  odor  of  amalgamation  upon  them.  Sir, 
I  am  proud  to  live  in  a  commonwealth  where  every  man, 
black  or  white,  of  every  clime  and  race,  is  recognizt-d  as  a 
man,  standing  upon  terms  of  perfect  and  absolute  equal- 
ity before  the  laws.  Yes,  sir,  I  live  in  a  commonwealth 
that  recognizes  the  sublime  creed  embodied  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence — a  commonwealth  that  throws  over 
the  poor,  the  weak,  the  lowly,  upon  whom  misfortune  has 
laid  its  iron  hand,  the  protection  of  just  and  equal  laws. 


HENKY   WILSON.  285 

Sir,  the  people  of  Massachusetts  may  not  believe  that  the 
African  race, 

"  Outcast  to  insolence  and  scorn," 

is  the  equal  to  this  Anglo-Saxon  race  of  ours  in  intellectual 
power  ;  but  thoy  know  no  reason  why  a  man,  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  should  be  degraded  by  unjust  laws,  because 
his  Creator  has  given  him  a  weak  body  or  a  feeble  mind. 
Sir,  the  philanthropist,  the  Christian,  the  true  Democratic 
statesman,  will,  see  in  the  fact  that  a  man  is  weak,  ignorant, 
and  poor,  the  reason  why  the  State  should  throw  over  him 
the  panoply  of  just  and  equal  laws." 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1856,  Mr.  Sumner  was 
assailed  in  his  seat  in  the  Senate  chamber  by  Mr. 
Brooks  of  South  Carolina,  and  beaten  over  the  head 
with  a  cane  until  he  fell  unconscious  upon  the  floor, 
covered  with  blood.  "When  the  assault  was  made, 
General  Wilson  was  in  the^  room  of  Speaker  Banks 
engaged  in  conversation  with  several  members  of  the 
House.  Returning  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  he 
found  his  friend  and  colleague  almost  unconscious  in 
the  hands  of  his  friends.  He  aided  in  the  sad  task 
of  bearing  him  to  his  chamber  and  placing  him  on 
his  couch  of  pain.  That  night  the  Republican 
members  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  com- 
missioned General  "Wilson  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  to  the  assault  upon  his  colleague,  which  duty 
he  performed  next  day  in  a  few  very  appropriate 
words.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Seward,  a  committee  was 
appointed,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  Mr. 
Slidell,  Mr.  Toombs,  Mr.  Douglas  and  others  rose  to 


286  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

make  some  personal  explanations  concerning  the  state- 
ment made  to  the  committee  by  Mr.  Sumner.  The 
floor  and  galleries  were  crowded,  and  every  word 
was  listened  to  with  the  most  intense  interest.  Gen- 
eral Wilson  rose  to  defend  his*  absent  colleague,  who 
was  confined  to  his  room,  as  he  declared,  from  the 
effects  "of  a  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly 
assault"  He  was  instantly  interrupted  by  an 
exclamation  from  Mr.  Butler,  and  cries  of  order 
increased  the  intense  excitement  which  prevailed  in 
the  crowded  chamber.  Threats  of  personal  violence 
were  made  by  Mr.  Brooks'  friends,  and  several  mem- 
bers of  both  houses  assured  General  Wilson  that  they 
would  stand  by  him  in  any  emergency.  That  even- 
ing, after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  Washington  for  Trenton,  to  address 
the  Republican  State  convention  of  New  Jersey.  On 
his  return,  on  the  morning  of  the  29th,  he  was  called 
upon  by  General  Lane,  of  Oregon,  and  a  challenge 
from  Mr.  Brooks  placed  in  his  hands.  General  Wil- 
son promptly  responded  by  placing  in  the  hands  of 
General  Lane,  through  his  friend,  Mr.  Buffinton, 
the  following  note  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  29,  10  i  o'clock. 
"  HON.  P.  S.  BROOKS, 

"  SIR  :  Your  note  of  the  27th  inst.  was  placed  in  my 
hands  by  your  friend  General  Lane,  at  twenty  minutes  past 
ten  o'clock  to-day. 

"  I  characterized,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  the  assault 


HENEY    WILSON.  287 

upon  my  colleague  as  '  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly/ 
I  thought  so  then,  I  think  so  now.  I  have  no  qualifications 
whatever  to  make  in  regard  to  those  words. 

"  I  have  never  entertained  or  expressed  in  the  Senate  or 
elsewhere,  the  idea  of  personal  responsibility  in  the  sense  of 
the  duellist. 

"  I  have  always  regarded  duelling  as  the  lingering  relic  of 
a  barbarous  civilization,  which  the  law  of  the  country  has 
branded  as  a  crime.  While,  therefore,  I  religiously  believe 
in  the  right  of  self-defence  in  its  broadest  sense,  the  law  of 
my  country  and  the  matured  convictions  of  my  whole  life 
alike  forbid  me  to  meet  you  for  the  purpose  indicated  hi  your 
letter. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  HENRY  WILSON." 

This  prompt  and  emphatic  response,  declining  to 
fight  a  duel,  but  at  the  same  time  avowing  his  readi- 
ness to  maintain  the  right  of  self-defence,  was  most 
enthusiastically  approved  and  applauded  by  the 
people  and  presses  of  the  North,  and  he  received 
many  letters,  from  men 'of  the  highest  character, 
warmly  commending  his  noble  and  dignified  course. 

On  the  13th  of  June.  General  "Wilson  made  a  full 
and  elaborate  reply  to  Mr.  Butler,  and  in  defence  of 
Mr.  Sumner.  This  speech  and  his  speeches  on  the 
bill  to  admit  Kansas,  his  speech  in  defence  of  the 
acts  of  Col.  Fremont,  and  against  using  the  army  to 
enforce  the  acts  of  the  territorial  legislature  of 
Kansas,  were  largely  circulated  through  the  country. 

On  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  General  Wilson 


288  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

entered  into  the  Presidential  campaign,  and  gave  all 
his  energies  to  secure  the  triumph  of  the  Republican 
cause. 

During  the  sessions  of  1856-7-8  and  1858-9, 
General  Wilson  was  in  constant  attendance  upon 
Congress,  and  his  duties,  owing  to  the  prolonged 
absence  of  his  colleague,  were  very  arduous  and 
pressing.  In  those  sessions  he  took  his  full  share  of 
labor  in  the  committee  rooms,  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate,  and  on  matters  of  legislative  action.  He  took 
part  in  the  debates  during  these  sessions,  upon  all 
questions  of  importance,  and  on  most  of  the  questions 
before  the  Senate,  he  delivered  elaborate  speeches. 
Those  upon  the  affairs  of  Kansas  exhibit  an  amount 
of  information,  concerning  that  territory,  surpassed 
by  no  other  member  of  either  House  of  Congress, 
and  his  speeches  on  the  Treasury  Note  bill,  the 
expenses  of  the  Government,  the  revenue  collection 
appropriations,  the  tariff,  the  President's  Message, 
and  the  Pacific  Railroad,  are  remarkable  for  fullness 
and  accuracy  of  facts,  and  clearness  and  force  of 
statement.  His  speech  in  March,  1850,  in  reply  to 
Mr.  Hammond  of  South  Carolina,  is  one  of  the  most 
effective  speeches  ever  delivered  in  Congress,  in 
defence  of  free  labor.  It  is  full  of  facts  and  points  of 
great  power,  and  few  speeches  ever  made  in  Congress 
have  had  a  wider  circulation,  or  received  warmer 
approval,  in  the  free  States. 


HENBY   WILSON.  289 

Mr.  Hammond  characterized  the  manual  laborers 
as  "  slaves  " — the  "  mud-sills  "  of  society.  .This 
extract  is  quoted  from  General  "Wilson's  reply : 

"  Mr.  President,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  tells  us 
that  '  all  the  powers  of  the  world  cannot  abolish '  '  the  thing ' 
he  calls  slavery.  '  God  only  can  do  it  when  he  repeals  the 
fiat,  "  the  poor  ye  have  always  with  you  ;"  for  the  man 
who  lives  by  daily  labor,  and  your  whole  class  of  hireling 
manual  laborers  and  operatives,  are  essentially  slaves  !  Our 
slaves  are  black  ;  happy,  content,  unaspiring  ;  yours  are 
white,  and  they  feel  galled  by  their  degradation.  Our  slaves 
do  not  vote  ;  yours  do  vote,  and,  being  the  majority,  they 
are  the  depositaries  of  all  your  political  power  ;  and  if  they 
knew  the  tremendous  secret,  that  the  baUot-box  is  stronger 
than  an  army  with  banners,  and  could  combine,  your  society 
would  be  reconstructed,  your  government  overthrown,  and 
your  property  divided.' 

"  '  The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you  !'  This  fiat  of 
Almighty  God,  which  Christian  men  of  all  ages  and  lands 
have  accepted  as  the  imperative  injunction  of  the  common 
Father  of  all,  to  care  for  the  children  of  misfortune  and  sor- 
row, the  senator  from  South  Carolina  accepts  as  the  founda- 
tion-stone, the  eternal  law,  of  slavery,  which  '  all  the  powers 
of  earth  cannot  abolish.'  These  precious  words  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,  '  the  poor  ye  have  always  with  you,'  are 
perpetually  sounding  in  the  ears  of  mankind,  ever  reminding 
them  of  their  dependence  and  their  duties.  These  words 
appeal  alike  to  the  conscience  and  the  heart  of  mankind.  To 
men  blessed  in  their  basket  and  their  store,  they  say  '  pro- 
perty has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights  !'  To  men  clothed  with 
authority  to  shape  the  policy  or  to  administer  the  laws  of  the 
State,  they  say,  '  lighten  by  wise,  humane,  and  equal  laws, 
the  burdens  of  the  toiling  and  dependent  children  of  men  1' 
To  men  of  every  age  and  every  clime  they  appeal,  by  the 

13 


PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 


Divine  promise  that  '  he  that  giveth  to  the  poor  lendeth  to 
the  Lord  1'  Sir,  I  thank  God  that  I  live  in  a  commonwealth 
which  sees  no  warrant  in  these  words  of  inspiration  to  oppress 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  toil  and  poverty.  Over  the  poor 
and  lowly  she  casts  the  broad  shield  of  equal,  just,  and 
humane  legislation.  The  poorest  man  that  treads  her  soil,  no 
matter  what  blood  may  run  in  his  veins,  is  protected  in  his 
rights  and  incited  to  labor  by  no  other  force  than  the  assur- 
ance that  the  fruits  of  his  toil  belong  to  himself,  to  the  wife 
of  his  bosom,  and  the  children  of  his  love. 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  exclaims,  '  The  man 
who  lives  by  daily  labor,  your  whole  class  of  manual  laborers, 
are  essentially  slaves'  — '  they  feel  galled  by  their  degradation  1' 
What  a  sentiment  is  this  to  hear  uttered  in  the  councils  of 
this  democratic  Republic  !  The  senator's  political  associates 
who  listen  to  these  words  which  brand  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  the  men  they  represent  in  the  free  States,  and  hundreds  of 
their  neighbors  and  personal  friends  as  '  slaves,'  have  found  no 
words  "to  repel  or  rebuke  this  language.  This  language  of 
scorn  and  contempt  is  addressed  to  senators  who  were  not 
nursed  by  a  slave  ;  whose  lot  it  was  to  toil  with  their  own 
hands — to  eat  bread  earned,  not  by  the  sweat  of  another's 
brow,  but  by  their  own.  Sir,  I  am  the  son  of  a  '  hireling 
manual  laborer '  who,  with  the  frosts  of  seventy  winters  on 
his  brow,  '  lives  by  daily  labor.'  I,  too,  have  '  lived  by  daily 
labor.'  I,  too,  have  been  a  '  hireling  manual  laborer.'  Poverty 
cast  its  dark  and  chilling  shadow  over  the  home  of  my  child- 
hood, and  want  was  there  sometimes — an  unbidden  guest.  At 
the  age  of  ten  years — to  aid  him  who  gave  me  being,  in  keeping 
the  gaunt  spectre  from  the  hearth  of  the  mother  who  bore  me 
— I  left  the  home  of  my  boyhood,  and  went  to  earn  my  bread 
by  '  daily  labor. '  Many  a  weary  mile  have  I  travelled 

"  '  To  beg  a  brother  of  the  earth 
To  give  me  leave  to  toil.' 


HEXET  -WILSON.  291 

"  Sir,  I  have  toiled  as  a  '  hireling  manual  laborer '  in  the 
field  and  in  the  workshop  ;  and  I  tell  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  that  I  never  '  felt  galled  by  my  degradation.' 
No,  sir — never  !  Perhaps  the  senator  who  represents  that 
'  other  class  which  leads  progress,  civilization,  and  refinement,' 
will  ascribe  this  to  obtuseness  of  intellect  and  blunted  sensi- 
bilities of  the  heart.  Sir,  I  was  conscious  of  my  manhood  ;  I 
was  the  peer  of  my  employer  ;  I  knew  that  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  my  native  and  adopted  States  threw  over  him 
and  over  me  alike  the  panoply  of  equality  ;  I  knew,  too,  that 
the  world  was  before  me,  that  its  wealth,  its  garnered  trea- 
sures of  knowledge,  its  honors,  the  coveted  prizes  of  life,  were 
within  the  grasp  of  a  brave  heart  and  a  tireless  hand,  and  I 
accepted  the  responsibilities  of  my  position  all  unconscious 
that  I  was  a  '  slave.'  I  have  employed  others,  hundreds  of 
'  hireling  manual  laborers.'  Some  of  them  then  possessed,  and 
now  possess,  more  property  than  I  ever  owned  ;  some  of  them 
were  better  educated  than  myself — yes,  sir,  better  educated, 
and  better  read,  too,  than  some  senators  on  this  floor  ;  and 
many  of  them,  in  moral  excellence  and  purity  of  character,  I 
could  not  but  feel,  were  my  superiors.  I  have  occupied,  Mr. 
President,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  the  relation  of  employer 
and  employed  ;  and  while  I  never  felt  '  galled  by  my  degra- 
dation '  in  the  one  case,  in  the  other  I  was  never  conscious 
that  my  '  hireling  laborers  '  were  my  inferiors.  That  man  is  a 
'  snob '  who  boasts  of  being  a  '  hireling  laborer,'  or  who  is 
ashamed  of  being  a  '  hireling  laborer  ;'  that  man  is  a  '  snob  ' 
who  feels  any  inferiority  to  any  man  because  he  is  a  '  hireling 
laborer,'  or  who  assumes  any  superiority  over  others  because 
he  is  an  employer.  Honest  labor  is  honorable  ;  and  the  man 
who  is  ashamed  that  he  is  or  was  a  '  hireling  laborer '  has  not 
manhood  enough  to  '  feel  galled  by  his  degradation.' 

"Having  occupied,  Mr.  President,  the  relation  of  either 
employed  or  employer  for  a  third  of  a  century  ;  having  lived 
in  a  commonwealth  where  the  '  hireling  class  of  manual 


292  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

laborers '  are  '  the  depositaries  of  political  power  ;'  having 
associated  with  this  class  in  all  the  relations  of  life  ;  I  tell 
the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  class  he  represents, 
that  he  libels,  grossly  libels  them,  when  he  declares  that  they 
are  '  essentially  slaves  !'  There  can  be  found  nowhere  in 
America,  a  class  of  men  more  proudly  conscious  or  tenacious 
of  their  rights.  Friends  and  foes  have  ever  found  them 

'  A  stubborn  race,  fearing  and  flattering  none.' 

"  Ours  are  the  institutions  of  freedom  ;  and  they  flourish 
best  in  the  storms  and  agitations  of  inquiry  and  free  discus- 
sion. We  are  conscious  that  our  social  and  political  institu- 
tions have  not  attained  perfection,  and  we  invoke  the  examina- 
tion and  the  criticism  of  the  genius  and  learning  of  all  Christen- 
dom. Should  the  senator  and  his  agitators  and  lecturers 
come  to  Massachusetts  on  a  mission  to  teach  our  '  hireling 
class  of  manual  laborers,'  our  '  mud-sills,'  our  '  slaves,'  the 
1  tremendous  secret  of  the  ballot-box,'  and  to  help  '  combine 
and  lead  them,'  these  stigmatized  '  hirelings '  would  reply  to 
the  senator  and  his  associates,  '  We  are  freemen  ;  we  are 
the  peers  of  the  gifted  and  the  wealthy  ;  we  know  the  "  tre- 
mendous secret  of  the  ballot-box  ;"  and  we  mold  and  fashion 
these  institutions  that  bless  and  adorn  our  proud  and  free 
Commonwealth  !  These  public  schools  are  ours,  for  the 
education  of  our  children  ;  these  libraries,  with  their  accumu- 
lated treasures,  are  ours  ;  these  multitudinous  and  varied 
pursuits  of  life,  where  intelligence  and  skill  find  their  reward, 
are  ours.  Labor  is  here  honored  and  respected,  and  great 
examples  incite  us  to  action.  All  around  us  in  the  profes- 
sions, in  the  marts  of  commerce,  on  the  exchange,  where 
merchant-princes  and  capitalists  do  congregate  ;  in  these 
manufactories  and  workshops,  where  the  products  of  every 
clime  are  fashioned  into  a  thousand  forms  of  utility  and 
beauty  ;  on  these  smiling  farms,  fertilized  by  the  sweat  of 
free  labor  ;  in  every  position  of  private  and  of  public  life,  are 
our  associates,  who  were  but  yesterday  "  hireling  laborers, ' 


HENKY   WILSON.  293 

"  mud-sills,"  "  slaves."  In  every  department  of  human  effort 
are  noble  men  who  sprang  from  our  ranks — men  whose  good 
deeds  will  be  felt  and  will  live  in  the  grateful  memories  of 
men  when  the  stones  reared  by  the  hands  of  affection '  to 
their  honored  names  shall  crumble  into  dust.  Our  eyes 
glisten  and  our  hearts  throb  over  the  bright,  glowing  and 
radiant  pages  of  our  history  that  records  the  deeds  of 
patriotism  of  the  sons  of  New  England  who  sprang  from  our 
ranks  and  wore  the  badges  of  toil.  While  the  names  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  Nathaniel  Greene  and 
Paul  Revere  live  on  the  brightest  pages  of  our  history,  the 
mechanics  of  Massachusetts  and  New  England  will  never 
want  illustrious  examples  to  incite  us  to  noble  aspirations  and 
noble  deeds.  Go  home,  say  to  your  privileged  class,  which, 
you  vauutingly  say,  "  leads  progress,  civilization  and  refine- 
ment," that  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  "  hireling  laborers  "  of 
Massachusetts,  if  you  have  no  sympathy  for  your  African 
bondmen,  in  whose  veins  flows  so  much  of  your  own  blood, 
you  should  at  least  sympathize  with  the  millions  of  your  own 
race,  whose  labor  you  have  dishonored  and  degraded  by 
slavery  I  You  should  teach  your  millions  of  poor  and 
ignorant  white  men,  so  long  oppressed  by  your  policy,  the 
"  tremendous  secret  that  the  ballot-box  is  stronger  than  an 
army  with  banners  !"  You  should  combine  and  lead  them  to 
the  adoption^  of  a  policy  which  shall  secure  their  own 
emancipation  from  a  degrading  thralldom  !' " 

Early  in  January,  1859,  Gen.  Wilson  was  reflected 
United  States  Senator  for  six  years  from  March  3, 
1859.  He  had  in  the  Senate  35  to  5  votes,  and  in  the 
House  of  llepresentatives  199  to  36  votes.  Before 
the  people  and  in  the  legislature,  he  was  without  a 
competitor  in  the  ranks  of  his  own  party  ;  and  the  uni- 
ty of  sentiment  in  favor  of  his  reelection  was  a  noble 
tribute  of  which  any  public  man  might  justly  be  proud. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS  is  a  native  of  Kentucky.  His 
father  took  him,  when  he  was  an  infant,  to  Mississippi 
Territory,  about  the  year  1806.  His  father  was 
moderately  wealthy  and  gave  his  son  an  excellent 
education.  He  had  the  ordinary  course  at  the 
schools,  and  then  entered  Transylvania  University 
College,  Kentucky.  There  he  remained  till  his 
father  removed  him  to  West  Point  as  a  cadet.  This 
was  in  1822,  and  in  1828  he  left  it  with  honor  as  bre- 
vet second  lieutenant,  and  was  at  once  placed  in  active 
service.  He  served  in  the  Indian  war  of  the  times 
so  ably  as  to  gain  almost  immediately  a  first  lieu- 
tenant's commission.  The  famous  Indian  chief, 
"  Black  Hawk,"  became  his  prisoner,  and  a  strong 
friendship  was  struck  up  between  the  li|ptenant  and 
his  prisoner,  which  lasted  till  the  death  of  the 
latter. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Davis,  sickened  of  military  life  with- 
out the  excitement  of  actual  engagement  with  an 
enemy,  and  retired  from  the  service,  settling  down 
upon  a  cotton  plantation  in  Mississippi.  For  nearly 
ten  years  he  remained  on  his  plantation  in  quiet, 

294 


JEFFERSON   DAVIS.  295 

cultivating  cotton  and  his  intellect  at  the  same  time, 
for  he  was  during  all  these  years  of  rural  life  a  great 
student  and  reader.  He  was  contentedly  preparing 
himself  for  the  future  occasion  which  should  call  for 
his  services.  In  1843,  he  took  the  stump  for  Mr. 
Polk,  and  such  was  his  ability  before  the  people  that 
they  sent  him  to  Congress  in  1845.  When  he  had 
been  in  Washington  but  a  few  months,  the  war  with 
Mexico  broke  out,  and  his  constituents  raised  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers,  who  elected  Mr.  Davis  as  their 
colonel.  He  immediately  resigned  his  seat  in  Con- 
gress, and  went  with  his  regiment  to  join  General 
Taylor  in  Mexico.  The  history  of  Col.  Davis'  career 
in  Mexico  is  full  of  interest,  but  we  cannot  stay  to 
elaborate  it.  At  Buena  Yista  he  won  laurels  of 
glory,  in  the  parlance  of  the  soldier.  Says  a  friend 
of  his : 

"  His  men — though  volunteers — showed  a  steadiness  which 
equalled  anything  that  might  have  been  expected  of  veteran 
troops  ;  and  they  were  handled  in  so  masterly  a  way,  that, 
if  the  glory  of  that  day  were  to  be  assigned  to  any  one 
corps  rather  than  any  other,  they  would  probably  bear  away 
the  palm.  Every  one  remembers  the  proud  appeal  of  Colonel 
Davis  to  another  regiment  of  volunteers,  who  were  finding 
the  fire  rather  warm,  to  '  Stay  and  re-form  behind  that  wall ' 
— pointing  to  his  Mississippians.  Throughout  the  war,  he 
and  his  brave  riflemen  loom  up  at  intervals  whenever  the  fire 
grows  hot  or  the  emergency  grave,  and  never  without  good 
effect.  They  were  armed  with  a  peculiar  rifle,  now  best 
known  as  the  Mississippi  rifle,  chosen  by  their  colonel  him- 


296  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

self;  it  was  scarcely  less  deadly  than  the  Minie.  Their 
colonel  set  the  example  of  intrepidity  and  recklessness  of 
personal  injury  :  at  Buena  Yista  he  was  badly  wounded  at 
an  early  part  of  the  action  ;  but  he  sat  his  horse  steadily  till 
the  day  was  won,  and  refused  even  to  delegate  a  portion  of 
his  duties  to  his  subordinate  officers." 

The  term  of  service  for  which  his  regiment  was 
enlisted  having  expired,  his  medical  advisers  insisted 
upon  his  going  home  and  curing  himself  of  his 
wounds.  He  did  not  stay  long,  however;  for  that 
very  year — in  the  late  autumn — lie  was  appointed 
United  States  Senator  by  the  Governor  of  Mississippi 
to  fill  a  vacancy,  and  when  the  legislature  of  the 
State  came  together,  it  elected  him  to  the  same  high 
office  for  the  ensuing  six  years. 

In  the  Senate  he  at  once  took  a  high  position.  He 
was  made  Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of 
the  Senate,  a  position  he  has  held  during  his  entire 
term  of  senatorial  services,  and  which  he  has  hon- 
ored. In  the  long  and  excited  debates  of  1849-50, 
and  1850-51,  Mr.  Davis  took  a  prominent  part,  and 
always  what  is  termed  an  ultra-sectional  position. 
He  was  the  champion  of  the  extreme  South,  and 
made  some  of  the  ablest  speeches  of  the  entire 
slavery  debate. 

In  September,  1851,  Mr.  Davis  was  nominated  by 
the  Democrats  of  Mississippi,  as  their  candidate  for 
Governor.  He  at  once  resigned  his  seat  in  the 


JEFFERSON   DA.VI8.  297 

Senate.  He  lost  an  election  by  a  thousand  votes — 
and  retired  to  his  plantation. 

Upon  the  nomination  of  Franklin  Pierce  to  the 
Presidency,  he  took  the  stump  for  him  in  several  of 
the  more  doubtful  southern  States,  and  with  great 
success.  His  popularity  before  the  people  as  a 
speakefl-was  great,  and  his  success  was  in  due  propor- 
tion. 

Mr.  Pierce  rewarded  Mr.  Davis  for  his  eminent 
services  in  the  campaign  by  the  offer  of  the  Secre- 
taryship of  "War — an  office  which  he  was  peculiarly 
qualified  to  fill.  He  was  quite  successful  as  Secre- 
tary of  War,  though  his  unfortunate  quarrel  with 
General  Scott  (about  the  merits  of  which  we  are 
incompetent  to  pronounce  an  opinion),  damaged  his 
popularity  with  a  portion  of  his  friends.  "When  the 
Pierce  administration  went  out,  Mr.  Davis  was  re- 
elected  United  States  Senator,  and  he  has  latterly 
been  looked  upon  as  a  Democratic  leader  in  the 
Senate. 

In  his  personal  appearance  in  the  Senate-room,  Mr. 
Davis  has  few  equals.  Tall,  upright,  stern,  and  with 
the  bearing  of  a  prince,  he  at  once  commands  the 
admiration  of  the  stranger  so  far  as  his  personal 
appearance  is  concerned.  His  military  manners 
have  followed  him  from  the  camp  into  the  Senate. 
We  say  this  in  no  offensive  sense,  though  it  is  true 
that  the  senator  often  unintentionally  offends  by  the 

13* 


298  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

quickness,  the  savageness,  and  the  irritability  of  his 
style  and  speech.  This  is  not  intentional,  and  though 
it  now  and  then  gives  offence,  it  at  the  same  time 
gives  great  force  to  the  sentiment  which  the  senator 
may  be  uttering  at  the  time.  He  has  a  peculiar 
voice,  keyed  high,  yet  musical,  and  his  words  come 
flowing  out  like  so  many  cannon-balls  with  £he  force 
of  gunpowder  behind  them. 

The  political  position  of  Mr.  Davis  cannot  be 
misunderstood.  He  is  ultra-southern.  Not  a  dis- 
uniomst,  at  all  events ;  but  a  disunionist  in  a  certain 
event.  He  stands  by  the  extreme  southern  men — 
occupies  an  extreme  southern  position  for  a  man  who 
claims  yet  to  stand  by  the  national  Democratic 
party.  His  views  upon  the  non-intervention  doc- 
trines of  Mr.  Douglas,  we  shall  quote  that  we  may 
not  do  him  injustice.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  and  con- 
sistent advocate  of  utter  free  trade.  Nothing  short 
of  absolute  free  trade  will  suit  him  or  satisfy  him. 
He  is  also  opposed  to  the  Homestead  bill,  and  all  like 
appropriations  of  the  public  lands.  He  is  in  favor  of 
the  acquisition  of  Cuba,  but  opposed  the  Senate  reso- 
lution— proposed — giving  Mr.  Buchanan  power  to 
make  war  upon  the  southern  republics  when  he 
should  think  the  occasion  demanded  it. 

If  Mr.  Davis'  position  be  thought  to  be  extremely 
southern,  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  is  an  honest, 
upright  man — much  more  so  than  some  who  clamor 


JEFFERSON   DAVIS.  299 

after  office ;  and  that  such  a  man  can  be  trusted  gen- 
erally, in  spite  of  his  prejudices,  to  deal  fairly  even 
with  his  opponents.  An  honest  man,  however  ultra 
his  position,  if  he  have  intellect,  is  safer  to  be  trusted 
with  a  high  office,  than  the  mere  twaddling  politician, 
who  will  execute  the  party's  bidding,  however  iniqui- 
tous it  may  be. 

In  the  great  "non-intervention  debate"  of  the 
Senate,  in  February,  1859,  Mr.  Davis  said : 

"  Now,  the  senator  asks  will  you  make  a  discrimination  in 
the  territories  ?  I  say  yes,  I  would  discriminate  in  the  terri- 
tories wherever  it  is  needful  to  assert  the  right  of  a  citizen  : 
wherever  it  is  proper  to  carry  out  the  principle,  the  obliga- 
tion, the  clear  intent  and  meaning  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  I  have  heard  many  a  siren's  song  on  this 
doctrine  of  non-intervention  ;  a  thing  shadowy  and  fleeting, 
changing  its  color  as  often  as  the  chameleon,  which  never 
meant  anything  fairly  unless  it  was  that  Congress  would  not 
attempt  to  legislate  on  a  subject  over  which  they  had  no  con- 
trol ;  that  they  would  not  attempt  to  establish  slavery  any- 
where nor  to  prohibit  it  anywhere  ;  and  such  was  the  lan- 
guage of  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  when  this  doc- 
trine was  inaugurated.  Since  that,  it  has  been  woven  into  a 
delusive  gauze,  thrown  over  the  public  mind,  and  presented 
as  an  obligation  of  the  Democratic  party  to  stand  still ; 
withholding  from  an  American  citizen  the  protection  he  has 
a  right  to  claim  ;  to  surrender  their  power  ;  to  do  nothing  ; 
to  prove  faithless  to  the  trust  they  hold  at  the  hands  of  the 
people  of  the  States.  If  the  theory  of  the  senator  be  cor- 
rect, and  if  Congress  has  no  power  to  legislate  in  any  regard 
upon  the  subject,  how  did  you  pass  the  fugitive  slave  law  ? 
He  repeats,  again  and  again,  that  you  have  no  power  to  leg- 


300  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

islate  in  regard  to  slavery  either  in  the  States  or  in  the  ter- 
ritories, and  yet  the  fugitive  slave  law  stands  on  the  statute- 
book  ;  and  although  he  did  not  vote  for  it,  he  explained  to 
the  country  why  he  did  not,  and  expressed  his  regret  that  his 
absence  had  prevented  him  from  recording  his  vote  in  favor 
of  it. 

"  From  the  plain  language  of  the  Constitution,  as  I  have 
read  it,  how  is  it  possible  for  one  still  claiming  to  follow  the 
path  of  the  Constitution,  to  assert  that  Congress  has  no 
power  to  legislate  in  relation  to  the  subject  anywhere  ?  He 
informs  us,  however,  that  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  the 
full  power  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  territory  to  legislate  on  all 
subjects  not  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution,  was  granted 
by  Congress.  If  Congress  attempted  to  make  such  a  grant; 
if  Congress  thus  attempted  to  rid  themselves  of  a  trust 
imposed  upon  them,  they  exceeded  their  authority.  They 
could  delegate  no  such  power.  The  territorial  legislature 
can  be  but  an  instrument,  through  which  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  execute  their  trust  in  relation  to  the  territo- 
ries. Therefore  it  was,  that  notwithstanding  the  exact  lan- 
guage of  that  bill  which  the  senator  has  read,  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  did  assume,  and  did  exercise,  the  power 
to  repeal  a  law  passed  in  that  very  territory  of  Kansas, 
which  they  clearly  could  not  have  done  if  they  had  surren- 
dered all  control  over  its  legislation.  Whether  the  senator 
voted  for  that  report  or  not,  I  do  not  know  ;  I  presume  he 
did  ;  but  whether  he  did  or  not,  does  not  vary  the  question, 
except  so  far  as  it  affects  himself.  The  advocates  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  were  generally  the  men  who  most 
promptly  claimed  the  repeal  of  those  laws,  because  they  said 
they  were  a  violation  of  those  rights  which  every  American 
citizen  possessed  under  the  Constitution. 

"But  the  senator  says  territorial  laws  can  only  be  set 
aside  by  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.-  If  so,  then  they  have  a  power  not  derived  from 


JEFFERSON   DAVIS.  301 

Congress  ;  they  are  not  the  instruments  of  Congress.  But 
in  the  course  of  the  senator's  remarks,  and  quite  inconsistent 
with  this  position,  he  announced  that  they  possessed  no  power 
save  that  which  they  derived  from  the  organic  act  and  the 
Constitution.  They  can  derive  no  power  from  the  Constitu- 
tion save  as  territories  of  the  United  States,  over  which  the 
States  have  given  the  power  of  a  trustee  to  the  Congress  ; 
and  being  the  delegate  of  the  Congress,  they  have  such 
powers  as  Congress  has  thought  proper  to  give,  provided 
they  do  not  exceed  such  powers  as  the  Congress  possesses. 
How,  then,  does  the  Senator  claim  that  they  have  a  power 
to  legislate  which  Congress  cannot  revise  ;  and  yet  no  power 
to  legislate  at  all  save  that  which  they  derive  from  their 
organic  act  ? 

"  My  friend  from  Alabama  presented  a  question  to  the 
senator  from  Illinois,  which  he  did  not  answer.  It  was, 
whether  a  law  pronounced  unconstitutional  by  the  Supreme 
Court  was  still  to  remain  in  force  within  the  territory,  Con- 
gress failing  to  provide  any  remedy  which  would  restore  the 
right  violated  by  that  unconstitutional  act?  The  senator 
answers  me  from  his  seat,  '  clearly  not.'  Then  I  ask  him, 
what  is  the  remedy  ?  The  law  is  pronounced  unconstitutional, 
and  yet  the  right  which  it  has  violated  is  not  restored  ;  the 
protection  which  is  required  is  not  granted  ;  the  law  which 
deprived  him  of  the  protection,  though  it  may  be  declared 
unconstitutional,  is  not  replaced  by  any  which  will  give 
him  the  adequate  protection  to  hold"  his  property.  Then 
what  is  the  benefit  he  derives  from  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  ?  The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  binding  upon 
the  Congress ;  but  this  squatter-sovereignty  legislation,  seem- 
ing to  be  outside  of  the  Constitution,  outside  of  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  Federal  Government,  erects  itself  into  an  atti- 
tude that  seems  to  me  quite  inappropriate. 

"I  concede  to  the  Congress  the  power,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  territorial  legislature,  to  legislate  upon 


302  PBESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

such  subjects  as  Congress  itself  has  the  right  to  make  laws 
for  ;  no  more  than  that.  More  than  that  the  senator  cannot 
claim,  unless  he  can  show  to  us  that  philosophical  problem  of 
getting  more  out  of  a  tub  than  it  contains  ;  its  contents 
being  measured,  to  find  something  more  which  can  be  taken 
out  of  it.  If  he  will  not — and  I  suppose  he  will  not — con- 
tend that  Congress  can  delegate  more  power  than  it  possesses, 
how  does  he  get  the  power  in  the  territorial  legislature  to 
pass  laws  which  will  interfere  with  the  rights  of  a  citizen 
choosing  to  migrate  to  a  territory  ?  It  is  the  common  pro- 
perty of  the  people  of  the  States.  Every  citizen  has  a  right 
to  go  there,  and  to  carry  with"  him  whatever  property  is 
recognized  by  the  Constitution  ;  the  common  law  of  the 
States  forming  the  Union.  Congress  has  no  power  to  pro- 
hibit it  ;  is  bound  to  see  that  it  is  fully  enjoyed.  Then,  I 
ask  the  senator,  where  does  he  derive  the  power  for  the 
territorial  legislature  to  do  it  ?  for  he  has  planted  himself 
now  on  the  ground  that  they  derive  their  authority  from  the 
organic  act." 

At  a  subsequent  stage  of  the  debate,  the  subjoined 
colloquy  occurred  between  Mr.  Pugh,  of  Ohio,  who 
had  the  floor,  and  Mr.  Davis  : 

"  MR.  DAVIS. — With  the  permission  of  the  senator  from 
Ohio,  I  will  ask  him  whether  he  understood  the  senator  from 
Virginia  to  assert  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
would  give  the  right  to  carry  this  property  into  the  limits  of 
a  State  where  it  is  prohibited  ? 

"  MR.  PUGH. — No,  sir  ;  but  I  say  that  this  proposition  is 
nothing,  unless  it  goes  to  that  extent. 

"  MR.  DAVIS. — In  the  absence  of  my  friend  from  Virginia, 
I  would  say  that  his  theory,  I  believe,  agrees  with  mine  ; 
and  certainly  does  not  go  to  that  extent.  It  is  that  the 


JEFFEBSON   DAVIS.  303 

Constitution  makes  it  property  throughout  the  United 
States.  It  can,  therefore,  be  taken  and  held  wherever  the 
sovereign  power  of  a  State  has  not  prohibited  it.  When 
it  reaches  the  territory  of  a  sovereign  State  where  its  intro- 
duction is  inhibited,  it  there  stops  ;  except  for  the  reserved 
right  to  recover  a  fugitive,  and  for  the  right  of  transit,  which 
belongs  to  every  citizen  of  the  United  States.  That  is  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

"  MR.  PUGH. — I  repeat  my  assertion  :  if  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  gives  this  form  of  property  its  peculiar 
protection,  as  gentlemen  assert,  and  the  right  to  carry  it,  it 
is  carried  into  every  State  over  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  State  ;  for  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
supreme  above  the  constitutions  and  laws  of  the  States  ;  and 
it  means  that,  or  it  means  nothing.  There  is  no  distinction  ; 
there  can  be  none  made  ;  and  my  colleague  put  the  very 
question  which  proved  the  fallacy  of  the  whole  proposition. 
But  senators  say  there  is  no  sovereignty  in  the  territories. 
I  agree  to  that  ;  but  why  do  we  deceive  ourselves  about 
words  ?  There  is  no  such  language  as  sovereignty  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Senators  say  it  requires 
a  power  of  sovereignty  to  exclude  slavery,  and  the  senator 
from  Mississippi  has  just  now  spoken  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  State  which  excludes  slavery.  He  says  it  requires  sov- 
ereign power  to  exclude  slavery.  Well,  how  is  that  sover- 
eignty to  be  expressed  ? 

"  MR.  DAVIS. — When  a  State,  being  a  sovereign,  by  its 
organic  law  excludes  that  species  of  property,  the  act  is  final. 
There  is  no  sovereignty  in  the  Constitution,  as  the  senator 
states,  and  why  ?  Because  the  Constitution  is  a  compact 
between  sovereigns  creating  an  agent  with  delegated  powers ; 
and  sovereignty  is  an  indivisible  thing.  They  gave  functions 
of  sovereignty  from  their  plenary  power.  Sovereignty 
remained  with  the  people  of  the  States. 

"MR.  PUGH. — Then  I  understand  the  senator  that  the 


304:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

sovereignty  can  only  speak  through  a  constitution,  and  tt-«t 
it  is  in  the  constitution  of  a  State  only  that  the  power  to 
admit  or  exclude  slavery  is  to  be  exercised.  Why,  sir,  until 
the  year  1820  not  a  State  of  this  Union,  in  her  constitution, 
either  admitted  or  excluded  slavery,  and  I  do  not  believe 
Virginia  did  until  1850  or  1851.  None  of  the  States  did  it 
until  Missouri  when  she  came  into  the  Union,  and  she  put  it 
into  her  constitution,  not  upon  the  idea  that  that  was  pecu- 
liarly the  place,  but  for  tke  express  purpose  of  disarming  her 
legislature.  It  was  an  ordinary  legislative  power,  nothing 
else  in  the  world  ;  known  and  recognized  as  such  and 
admitted  as  such  by  every  State  in  the  Union.  New  York 
abolished  slavery  by  law,  Pennsylvania  abolished  slavery  by 
law,  and  in  the  States  where  the  institution  continued,  it  was 
fostered,  protected,  and  recognized  by  ordinary  acts  of 
legislation. 

"  MR.  DAVIS. — I  am  sorry  to  interrupt  the  senator  again, 
and  I  believe  this  will  be  the  last  time.  The  first  instance 
he  will  find  was  that  of  Massachusetts,  who,  in  her  bill  of 
rights,  at  the  Revolutionary  era,  made  a  declaration  which 
her  supreme  court  held  to  be  the  abolition  of  slavery  ;  and  I 
think  he  will  find  that  it  has  generally  been  acted  on  in  that 
way;  but  he  has  not  the  right  to  assume  anything  more  than 
I  stated.  I  stated  a  mode." 


JAMES    L.    ORR. 

COL.  ORE  is  of  Irish  extraction,  his  ancestors  on 
the  paternal  and  maternal  side  coming  originally 
from  Ireland.  His  grandfather,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  Christopher 
Orr,  his  father,  was  a  country  merchant  of  consider- 
able means,  and  who  expended  them  liberally  upon 
the  education  of  his  children.  James  L.  Orr  was 
born  May  12,  1822,  at  Craytonville,  Anderson  Dis- 
trict, South  Carolina.  He  began  his  education  at  a 
common  school,  but  was  soon  sent  to  the  Anderson 
Academy,  at  the  same  time,  however,  assisting  his 
father  in  keeping  his  books.  When  he  was  eighteen 
years  old,  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of  Virginia, 
where  his  proficiency  in  his  studies  was  so  great, 
that  he  attracted  the  attention  of  his  tutors,  who  pre- 
dicted a  promising  career  for  the  young  student.  In 
1841,  he  left  college  and  spent  two  years  in  pursuing 
a  course  of  general  reading,  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance to  him  in  after  life. 

In  1843,  he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
He  began  the  practice  of  law  at  home,  in  Anderson, 
the  same  year  establishing  a  village  newspaper  and 


805 


306  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

editing  it.  It  was  called  the  "Anderson  Gazette."  In 
1844,  when  but  twenty-two  years  of  age,  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends  elected  him  to  the  State  Legislature 
where  he  began  his  political  career  in  a  quiet,  unos- 
tentatious manner.  Still,  he  took  a  very  decided 
position — one  which  gave  an  indication  of  his  future 
policy.  It  was  this :  he  delivered  a  speech  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  in  reference  to 
the  tariff  of  1812.  He  also  took  democratic  ground  in 
favor  of  the  election  of  Presidential  electors  of  the 
people.  They  were  then,  and  are  now  in  South 
Carolina,  elected  by  the  legislature. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Orr  became  a  candidate  for  Congress. 
His  chief  opponent  was  a  Democrat,  a  lawyer  of 
wealth  and  talents,  and  of  course  the  contest  was 
simply  one  of  personal  popularity,  as  both  gentlemen 
held  the  same  political  sentiments.  After  a  very 
lively  contest,  Mr.  Orr  was  elected  by  700  majority 
over  his  Democratic  competitor.  He  entered  Con- 
gress at  a  time  when  the  country  was  convulsed  with 
the  slavery  question,  and  though  such  men  as  "Web- 
ster, Clay,  Calhoun,  Cass,  and  the  like,  were  in  Con- 
gress, he  very  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
experienced  legislators  of  that  time.  'Not  by  egotistic 
speeches,  forcing  himself,  as  some  men  do,  upon  the 
attention  of  Congress  and  the  country,  but  by  deliver- 
ing, at  judicious  times,  speeches  which  were  full  of 
solid  ability.  While  he  was  a  firm  defender  of 


JAMES   L.  ORE.  307 

slavery  and  what  are  called  "the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  South,"  he  condemned  the  agitation  of 
the  question  of  slavery,  and  arrayed  himself  against 
the  ultraists  of  his  section  of  the  country.  Col.  Orr's 
constituents  were  so  well  pleased  with  his  conduct 
that  they  have  left  him  in  it  till  he  was,  in  December, 
1857,  elected  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. 

"When  the  compromise  measures  were  passed, 
South  Carolina  for  a  time  seemed  to  favor  a  secession 
from  the  Union.  A  Constitutional  Convention  had 
been  called  and  a  large  majority  of  the  delegates 
were  pledged  to  favor  secession.  Col.  Orr,  however, 
come  out  very  boldly  and  eloquently  against  their 
policy.  A  General  Convention  of  the  disaffected 
people  was  held  in  Charleston,  in  1851,  and  Col. 
Orr  attended  as  a  delegate  from  the  Anderson  Dis- 
trict. In  the  Convention  he  took  strong  ground 
against  disunion,  and  introduced  resolutions  embody- 
ing his  opinions  on  that  subject.  But  out  of  450 
members,  only  30  came  to  his  support.  But  Col. 
Orr  was  undaunted  by  the  majority  of  numbers 
against  him.  He  appealed  to  the  people  by  voice 
and  pen,  and  as  the  result  he  and  a  companion  in 
his  disunion  views  were  elected  to  the  proposed 
Southern  Congress  over  two  secession  candidates. 
An  apparent  admirer  of  Col.  Orr,  speaking  of  this 
contest,  says : 


308  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  That  the  crisis  was  one  full  of  alarm  and  danger  must 
be  admitted  even  by  those  furthest  from-  the  scene,  and  most 
disposed  to  deny  both  the  right  and  power  of  a  State  to 
secede  ;  and  that  Mr.  Orr,  in  the  very  opening  of  a  brilliant 
political  career,  hazarded  his  future  hopes  and  prospects  to  a 
sense  of  right  and  duty,  entitles  him  to  the  regard  of  every 
true  lover  of  the  Union.  His  triumph  was  highly  honorable 
to  himself,  and  fixed  him  more  firmly  than  ever  in  the  esteem 
and  affections  of  his  constituents." 

The  same  writer  remarks : 

"The  Congressional  career  of  Mr.  Orr,  which  a  want 
of  space  prevents  us  from  noticing  more  in  detail, 
has  been  both  a  brilliant  and  a  useful  one.  Always 
sustaining  his  positions  with  eloquence  and  force  of 
argument,  and  exhibiting  great  fairness  in  debate,  he 
has  commanded  attention,  and  exercised  a  powerful 
influence  over  the  questions  of  the  day.  His  habits 
of  thorough  investigation  and  analysis,  and  his  tena- 
cious adherence  to  his  convictions  of  right,  have  fre- 
quently placed  him  at  the  head  of  important  com- 
mittees ;  and  his  reports  are  among  the  ablest  in  our 
legislative  records.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  the  "Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  during  the 
discussion  of  the  most  important  and  exciting  mea- 
sures, he  displayed  so  much  promptness,  firmness,  and 
intelligence  in  his  decisions  that  he  won  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  men  of  all  parties ;  and  at  the 
commencement  of  last  Congress  he  was  almost  unani- 
mously selected  by  the  Democrats  as  their  candidate 


JAMES  L.  ORB.  309 

for  Speaker.  His  party  was,  however,  in  the  minor- 
ity, and  his  election  failed.  When  the  present  ses- 
sion of  Congress  opened,  Mr.  Orr  was  nominated, 
without  opposition,  and  elected  its  presiding  officer. 
So  far  he  has  justified  the  expectations  of  his  friends 
and  of  the  party  which  placed  him  in  the  chair.  In 
the  fulfillment  of  the  duties  of  his  present  position 
Mr.  Orr  will  doubtless  add  honorably  to  the  reputa- 
tion he  now  enjoys.  He  is  too  wise  a  man  not  to 
perceive  that  while  fidelity  to  party  was  the  best  lad- 
der for  him  to  rise  to  his  present  height,  impartial  neu- 
trality will  now  serve  his  fame  and  ambition  better." 

Upon  the  whole,  Mr.  Orr  made  an  admirable 
Speaker  to  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress.  If  he  was  not 
always  rigidly  impartial,  the  exceptional  cases  were 
rare,  and  when  he  was  swerved  from  the  straight  line 
of  duty  by  his  sectional  prejudices. 

In  November,  1855,  to  go  back  a  little — Col.  Orr 
published  a  letter  in  reference  to  the  duty  of  South 
Carolina  toward  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North. 
The  people  of  that  State  were  then,  as  they  seem 
almost  always  to  be,  in  a  state  of  high  excitement  on 
the  slavery  question.  Many  leading  politicians 
counselled  secession  and  non-action  in  reference  to 
the  Presidential  canvass.  But  Col.  Orr  took  different 
ground.  In  his  letter  to  Hon.  C.  "W.  Dudley,  dated 
Anderson,  Nov.  23,  1855,  he  said  : 

"  A  convention  is  merely  a  method  of  finding  out  what 


310  PKESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  popular  opinion  is,  and  giving  to  it  a  more  conspicuous 
and  imposing  expression.  It  has  been  steadily  and  uniformly 
pursued  by  the  Democracy  of  all  the  States  (except  our  own) 
for  fifteen  years  or  more,  and  the  selection  of  delegates,  man- 
ner of  voting  and  nominating,  has  been  defined  by  a  usage 
well  understood  and  acquiesced  in,  as  if  regulated  by  law. 
Hence,  we  know  that  such  a  convention  will  assemble  in 
Cincinnati  in  May  next,  and  that  it  will  nominate  candidates 
for  the  Presidency  and  Vice  Presidency — adopt  a  platform 
of  principles — and  it  is  nearly  certain  that  the  nominees  will 
receive  the  votes  of  the  Democratic  party  of  every  State  in 
the  Union.  Shall  the  Democracy  of  this  State  send  dele- 
gates ?  It  is  our  privilege  to  be  represented  there,  and  at 
the  present  tune  I  believe  it  to  be  a  high  and  solemn  duty  to 
meet  our  political  allies,  and  to  aid,  by  our  presence  and 
councils,  in  selecting  suitable  nominees  and  constructing  a 
platform,  which  will  secure  our  rights  and  uphold  the  Con- 
stitution. 

"  There  has  never  been  a  time  since  the  convention  policy 
was  adopted — if,  indeed,  there  has  been  such  a  tune  since 
the  government  was  inaugurated — when  the  success  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  electoral  college  was  so  vitally 
important  as  now.  If  that  party  should  be  defeated  in  the 
election  before  the  people,  every  patriot's  mind  must  be 
filled  with  gloomy  forebodings  of  the  future.  The  indica- 
tions now  are,  that  the  opposition  to  the  Democratic  party, 
made  up  of  Know  Nothings,  Abolitionists,  and  Fusionist, 
will  run  two  or  more  candidates  :  if  the  Democracy  fail  to 
secure  a  majority  in  the  electoral  college  over  all  elements  of 
opposition,  then  the  election  must  be  made,  according  to  the 
Constitution,  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  Can  we 
safely  trust  the  election  of  our  rights  to  that  body  ?  The 
House  is  now  elected,  and  we  know  that  a  decided  majority 
of  the  House  are  members  of  the  Know  Nothing,  Fusion 
and  Whig  parties  ;  and  if  the  election  be  devolved  on  them, 


JAMES  L.  OftK.  811 

the  Democratic  party  will  be  certainly  defeated,  and  perhaps 
a  Fusionist  promoted  to  the  Presidency.  Are  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  so  indifferent  to  their  relations  to  the  Federal 
Government,  that  they  will  quietly  look  on  and  see  such  an 
administration  as  we  have  had  since  the  4th  of  March, 
'53 — an  administration  that  has  faithfully  and  fearlessly 
maintained  the  Constitution  in  its  purity — supplanted  by 
Know  Nothingism  or  Black  Republicanism  ?  That  is  the 
issue  to  be  decided  in  the  next  presidential  election,  and  that, 
too,  in  the  electoral  college  ;  for  if  we  fail  there,  then  we 
know  now  with  absolute  certainty  that  we  must  be  defeated 
before  the  House.  Was  it,  then,  ever  so  important  before 
that  the  Convention  should  be  filled  with  discreet,  patriotic 
men  ;  that  there  should  be  the  fullest  representation  of  every 
man  devoted  to  the  Democratic  faith,  and  opposed  to  Fusion 
and  Know  Nothingism  ;  that  they  should  commune  freely 
together,  and  nominate  a  candidate  who  will  command  the 
confidence  of  the  entire  party. 

******* 

"  We  have  heard  much  of  southern  union  being  necessary 
to  our  safety.  We  now  have  it  in  our  power,  by  cordial  co- 
operation with  our  southern  sisters,  to  secure  it — to  secure  it 
on  such  a  basis  as  will  permanently  preserve  our  institutions. 
We  can  here  make  our  demand,  and  with  a  united  South,  we 
can  offer  it  to  the  true  men  of  the  North.  If  we  act  wisely 
and  present  such  an  ultimatum,  I  doubt  not  that  thousands, 
perhaps  millions,  at  the  North,  will  espouse  and  maintain  it  ; 
for  it  is  a  platform  of  the  Constitution,  and  there  are  hosts  of 
conservative  men  who  I  know  are  prepared  to  maintain 
the  Constitution  of  our  fathers. 

"  Will  we  reject  it  with  silent  contempt — adhere  to  our 
isolation,  and  stubbornly  refuse  to  fraternize  with  her,  and  all 
the  balance  of  our  southern  sisters  ?  Who  doubts  that  all 
the  South  will  be  represented  there  ?  and  can  it  be  said, 
truthfully,  that  our  voice  can  be  of  no  avail  or  weight,  when 


312  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  ultimatum  shall  be  laid  down  ?  If  we  send  delegates, 
who  can  say  that  our  rotes  may  not  secure  a  reliable  nomi- 
nee and  a  sound  platform  ?  Will  the  instructions  of  Georgia 
to  her  delegates  be  more  or  less  potent  with  the  indorsement 
of  all  or  of  only  a  portion  of  the  South  ? 

"  If,  indeed,  fanaticism  is  in  the  ascendant  in  the  North, 
and  cannot  be  overcome,  then  what  initiative  step  toward  a 
southern  Union,  for  the  last  resort,  can  be  more  effective 
than  to  unite  all  the  South  on  the  Georgia  platform  and  in- 
structions ?  Our  influence  in  counsel  and  in  action  will  be 
increased,  whenever  we  show  a  hearty  disposition  to  harmon- 
ize with  our  sisters  in  the  South.  Have  we  not  heretofore 
kept  aloof  from  their  consultations  in  every  instance,  save  in 
the  Nashville  Convention  ? — and  that  was  a  movement  which 
did  not  derive  any  popularity  in  the  South  from  being  sus- 
pected of  having  originated  in  South  Carolina.  Sooner  or 
later  we  must  learn  the  important  truth,  that  the  fate  and 
destiny  of  the  entire  South  is  identical.  Isolation  will  give 
neither  security  nor  concert.  When  we  meet  Virginia  and 
Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  in  consultation,  as  at 
Cincinnati,  it  is  the  supremacy  of  Pharisaism  to  flippantly 
denounce  such  association  as  either  dangerous  or  degrading. 
North  Carolina,  Missouri,  Florida,  and  Texas,  will  be  there 
represented  ;  and  are  we  too  exalted  or  conceited  to  meet 
them  at  the  same  council  board  ? 

"  We  shall  meet  there  many  liberal  men  from  the  North; 
those  who  in  their  section  have  done  good  service  against 
political  abolitionism.  When  we  insist  upon  our  platform 
with  firmness,  and  they  see  we  only  make  a  demand  of  our 
constitutional  rights,  they  will  concede  it ;  and  when  they 
go  home  they  will  prosecute  the  canvass  in  good  faith,  upon 
the  principles  enunciated  at  the  Convention.  Concert  among 
ourselves,  with  the  aid  of  the  conservative  men  at  the  North, 
may  enable  us  to  save  a  constitutional  Union  ;  if  that  cannot 
be  preserved,  it  will  enable  us  to  save  ourselves  and  our  insti- 


JAMES   L.  OEE.  313 

tutions.  Are  we  alone  to  have  unoccupied  seats,  when  such 
grave  matters  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Cincinnati  Conven- 
tion? 

"  Suppose  the  Democracy  of  this  State  should  decide  not 
to  send  delegates,  and  the  other  States  of  the  South  should 
follow  her  example,  who  would  be  voted  for  ?  Could  the 
party,  even  at  the  South,  without  some  concert,  which  could 
only  be  secured  by  meeting,  rally  upon  the  same  man  ?  No 
well-informed  person  would  venture  an  affirmative  answer  ; 
what  would  be  the  result  ?  The  Democratic  party  would 
certainly  be  defeated,  and  the  Know  Nothing,  or  Black 
Republican  party,  would  as  certainly  be  successful.  Our 
policy,  then,  would  inevitably  bring  upon  us  defeat ;  and  if 
we  are  to  be  saved  from  a  free-soil  President,  it  is  only  to 
be  done  by  the  party  in  the  other  States  assembling  and 
making  a  nomination  in  which  we  refuse  to  participate. 
Even  those  who  are  opposing  the  sending  of  the  delegates,  I 
doubt  not,  rejoice  hi  the  hope  that  the  other  States,  despite 
our  impracticable  example,  will  meet  and  nominate  candi- 
dates. 

****** 

"  The  northern  Democrats  aided  us  to  bring  into  the 
Union  Texas,  a  magnificent  slave-holding  territory — large 
enough  to  make  four  slave  States,  and  strengthened  us  more 
in  that  peculiar  interest  than  was  ever  before  done  by  any 
single  act  of  the  Federal  Government.  Since  then  they 
have  amended  a  very  imperfect  fugitive  slave  law,  passed  in 
1793,  and  have  given  us  now  a  law  for  the  recovery  of  fugi- 
tive slaves,  as  stringent  as  the  ingenuity  of  man  could  devise. 
Since  then  they  have  aided  us  by  their  votes  in  establishing 
the  doctrine  of  non-intervention  with  slavery  by  Congress  in 
the  territories.  Since  then  they  have  reduced  the  odious 
tariff  of  1842,  and  fixed  the  principle  of  imposts  on  the 
revenue,  not  the  protective  basis.  Since  then  they  have 
actually  repealed  the  Missouri  restriction,  opened  the  territo- 

14 


314:  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ries  to  settlement,  and  enabled  us,  if  the  South  will  be  true 
to  herself,  and  aid  in  peopling  Kansas,  to  form  another  slave 
State. 

"In  1843,  a  man  would  have  been  pronounced  insane, 
had  he  predicted  that  slavery  would  be  introduced  there  by 
the  removal  of  congressional  restrictions.  Since  then  they 
have  adopted  the  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions  and 
Madison's  report — the  very  corner-stone  of  State  rights — as 
a  part  of  the  Democratic  platform.  They  have  by  their 
votes  in  Congress  and  Convention  given  all  these  pledges  to 
the  Constitution  since  1843  ;  and  if  we  could  then  fraternize 
with  them,  what  change  has  transpired  that  justifies  the 
delegates  in  that  Convention,  at  least,  in  refusing  now  to 
fraternize  with  northern  and  southern  Democrats  ?" 

The  reader  will  easily  see  Col.  Orr's  position  from 
this  letter.  He  is  a  southern  Democrat,  and,  as  such, 
a  defender  of  slavery  and  slavery  extension,  a  free 
trader,  and  an  opponent  of  all  homestead  bills,  but 
he  does  not  go  with  the  most  ultra  class  of  Southern 
politicans ;  in  short,  he  is  "a  National  Democrat." 
He  stands  by  the  Democratic  organization  of  the 
country,  so  long  as  it  stands  by  the  South  and  her 
institutions  as  well  as  it  has  done  in  the  past.  Upon 
the  new  issues  of  intervention  for  slavery  in  the  ter- 
ritories he  has  not  yet  spoken,  but  he  was,  of  course, 
a  rigid  Lecomptonite.  But  during  the  debate  on  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  he  spoke  very  decidedly.  He 
said  :  "  The  legislative  authority  of  a  territory  is  in- 
vested with  no  vote  for  or  against  laws.  We  think 
ihey  ought  to  pass  laws  in  every  territory,  when  the 


JAMES  L.  OEE.  815 

territory  is  open  to  settlement,  and  slaveholders  go 
there,  to  protect  slave  property.  But  if  they  decline 
to  pass  such  laws,  what  is  the  remedy  ?  JVone,  sir. 
If  the  majority  of  the  people  are  opposed  to  the  insti- 
tution, and  if  they  do  not  desire  it  ingrafted  upon 
their  territory,  all  they  have  to  do  is  simply  to  de- 
cline to  pass  laws  in  the  territorial  legislature  for  its 
protection." 

In  Congress,  Col.  Orr  has  generally  ranged  himself 
with  the  compromising  democracy.  He  is  not  born 
of  the  old  aristocratic  stock  of  South  Carolina  planters, 
but  was  the  son  of  a  worker — a  country  merchant. 
This  fact  has  never  been  lost  sight  of  by  a  portion  of 
the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  and  they  have  been, 
some  of  them  at  least,  his  bitter  enemies  for  years. 
It  is  not  impossible  but  Col.  Orr,  for  this  reason,  has 
taken  a  more  "  national "  view  of  politics,  and  has 
refused  to  go  out  of  the  Union  for  the  sake  of  the 
slaveholding  aristocracy. 

In  his  personal  appearance  Col.  Orr  is  not,  perhaps, 
prepossessing ;  though  his  great,  black  eye  and  fine 
open  face  show  the  force  and  power  of  his  intellect. 
He  is  large  in  person,  and  not  particularly  graceful 
in  his  actions  or  appearance.  He  has  a  certain  dig- 
nity, however,  which  enforces  attention  if  he  is  the 
orator  of  the  occasion,  and  obedience  if  he  is  the  pre- 
siding officer. 


JOHN  MINOR  BOTTS. 

WE  have  no  extended  sketch  of  Mr.  Botts  to  present 
to  the  reader,  but  a  few  leading  facts  in  reference  to 
the  political  man. 

Mr.  Botts  is  a  native  of  Dumfries,  Prince  William 
County,  Virginia,  and  was  born  in  September,  1802. 
As  early  as  1834,  he  joined  the  Whig  party,  and  in 
1839,  he  came  to  Congress  as  a  Whig.  He  was 
known  in  the  House  as  a  follower  of  Mr.  Clay,  or 
rather  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Clay  and  his  peculiar  doc- 
trines. Mr.  Botts,  in  other  words,  was  in  favor  of  a 
highly  protective  tariff,  the  distribution  of  the  public 
lands,  and  internal  improvements.  He  is  to-day  in 
favor  of  these  measures  of  what  he  would  call  reform. 
So  strong  was  he  in  his  devotion  to  the  tenets  of  the 
Whig  party,  that  when  President  Tyler  disappointed 
his  friends  by  his  tariff  policy,  Mr.  Botts,  though 
a  friend  of  years,  at  once  terminated  the  friendship. 
He  could  not  hold  in  respect  the  man  who,  it  seemed 
to  him,  had  betrayed  his  friends. 

Mr.  Botts  was  opposed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
act  and  to  the  passage  of  the  Lecompton  bill. 
Nevertheless  he  is  a  slaveholder  and  a  defender  of 

316 


JOHN   MINOK   BOTTS.  317 

the  institution  as  it  now  exists  in  Virginia.  But  he 
is  not  a  believer  in  the  finality  of  the  present  system, 
nor  is  he  afraid  to  express  his  opinions  of  slavery. 
This  will  be  seen  at  once  by  the  perusal  of  a  letter  to 
the  "  Richmond  Whig,"  from  Mr.  Botts,  from  which 
we  quote.  It  is  dated  April  18,  1859  : 

"  I  have  recently  received  many  letters  from  different  parts 
of  the  State,  asking  for  a  copy  of  my  Powhatan  speech,  deliv- 
ered in  1850,  which  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  furnish,  as  I  have 
only  some  half  dozen  copies  left.  As  the  best  means  of  sup- 
plying the  information  so  earnestly  sought  by  those  friends 
who  are  anxious  to  ascertain  what  horrible  sentiments  I  uttered 
on  the  subject  of  slavery,  which  have  been  recently,  to  a  great 
extent,  substituted  for  the  '  free  negro '  misrepresentation,  I 
have  concluded  to  publish,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Imposition 
party  in  particular,  everything  in  that  speech  that  relates  to 
the  question  of  slavery  ;  garbled  extracts  of  which  have 
already  appeared  in  a  small  portion  of  the  press  of  that 
party — many  of  them,  seeming  to  think  there  was  no  great 
amount  of  capital  to  be  made  out  of  it,  have  declined  to 
notice  it.  The  following  is  the  portion  objected  to.  I 
said  : 

"  '  There  are,  sir,  two  parties  in  our  country,  distinct  from 
all  the  rest,  of  whom  I  wish  to  say  a  word.  The  one  in  the 
North,  called  '  Abolitionists/  and  the  other,  in  the  South 
known  as  '  Disunionists.'  I  am  not  sure  for  which  of  the 
two  parties  I  have  the  least  sympathy  or  respect  ;  and  I  am 
not  sure  to  which  attaches  the  largest  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  chief  difficulties  with  which  the  nation  has  been 
lately  afflicted. 

"  The  Abolitionists  seem  to  estimate  the  value  of  this  Union 
(and  to  hold  as  a  condition  and  a  price  for  its  continuance) 
by  the  abolition  of  African  slavery.  While  the  ultra  men  of 


318  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

the  South,  or  disunionists,  seem  to  regard  the  perpetuation  and 
extension  of  slavery  as  the  chief  bond  that  can  hold  them  and 
the  Union  together.  For  neither  of  these  parties  have  I  any 
sympathy.  I  hold  to  the  Union  for  far  different,  and,  I  trust, 
higher  and  nobler  purposes.  It  is  for  the  perpetuation  of 
American  Freedom,  rather  than  the  abolition  or  perpetuation 
of  African  Slavery.  I  am  one  of  those  who  think  slavery, 
in  the  abstract,  is  much  to  be  deprecated  ;  and  whilst  I 
think  that,  as  at  present  organized  in  the  southern  States,  it 
is  a  humanizing,  civilizing,  and  Christianizing  institution, 
as  must  all  agree  who  will  take  the  pains  to  compare  the 
present  condition  of  our  slaves  with  the  original  African 
race,  yet  I  regard  it  as  a  great  calamity  that  it  should  have 
been  entailed  upon  us  ;  and  I  should  look  upon  that  man  as 
the  first  and  greatest  benefactor  to  his  country,  whose 
wisdom  could  point  out  to  us  some  practical  and  satisfactory 
means  by  which  we  could,  through  our  own  instrumentality, 
and  without  interference  from  our  neighbors,  provide  for  the 
ultimate  emancipation  and  removal  of  all  the  slaves  in  the 
country.  I  speak  of  this  as  a  desirable  thing,  especially  to 
the  owners  of  slaves,  who,  I  think,  are  the  chief  sufferers, 
but  at  the  same  time  I  fear  it  is  perfectly  Utopian  to 
attempt  it  ;  but  I  have  seen  too  much  difference  between 
the  enterprise,  the  industry,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  free 
and  the  slave  States,  to  doubt  the  advantage  we  would  derive 
from  it  if  it  could  be  accomplished.' 

"  Now,  there  it  is  ;  let  them  make  the  most  of  it.  I  will 
add,  that  I  said  it  all  at  mature  age,  after  full  and -careful 
deliberation,  honestly  believing  and  thinking  all  that  it  con- 
tains. I  have  seen  no  reason  for  modification,  recantation,  or 
equivocation.  What  I  thought  and  said  then,  I  think  and 
repeat  now,  in  the  most  emphatic  terms  ;  and  hold,  that  he  who 
objects  to  the  sentiments  conveyed,  to  be  consistent,  must 
not  only  be  in  favor  of  reopening  the  African  slave  trade 
at  this  time,  but  must  take  the  position,  that  if  no  such  thing 


JOHN   MINOR   BOTT8.  319 

as  slavery  had  ever  been  known  to  or  introduced  amongst  us, 
he  would  now  favor  its  introduction  for  the  Qrst  time  ;  for  if 
its  original  introduction  is  not  to  be  deprecated,  but  justified 
and  approved,  why  would  he  not  advocate  a  traffic  that  holds 
so  high  a  place  in  his  judgment  and  regard  ?  I  do  not  know 
how  many  there  are  in  this  State,  or  in  the  South,  who  set 
themselves  up  as  advocates  of  this  revolting  trade,  nor  do  I 
care ;  I  have  only  to  say,  that  I  am  not  one  of  them,  and 
that,  as  a  humanized,  civilized  and  christianized,  member  of 
the  community,  I  should  be  utterly  ashamed  of  myself,  if  I 
could  entertain  any  other  opinions  than  those  I  have 
expressed  ;  and  I  should  deserve  the  scorn  of  all  men,  if  I 
could  permit  any  condition  of  the  public  mind  to  induce  me 
so  far  to  debase  myself  as  to  render  me  capable  of  expressing 
any  other,  for  the  purpose  of  catering  to  a  morbid,  vitiated, 
and  corrupt  taste,  or  to  an  affected  and  artificial  sentimen- 
tality on  the  subject  of  slavery.  These  were  then,  and  are 
now,  my  honest  convictions,  and  I  think  all  who  have  partici- 
pated in  the  clamor  that  has  been  attempted  to  be  gotten 
up,  for  the  opportunity  afforded  me  of  proclaiming  them  from 
the  house-tops,  to  the  humanized,  civilized,  and  christianized 
world  ;  and  I  hope  the  Imposition  press,  throughout  the 
State,  will  publish  them,  and  that  their  candidates  for  guber- 
national  and  subordinate  honors  may  read  this  my  last  decla. 
ration  on  the  subject,  wherever  they  may  speak. 

"  In  another  part  of  that  speech  I  said  : 

" '  What  I  would  ask  and  demand  of  the  North,  is  that 
they  shall  not  interfere  with  slavery  as  it  exists  under  the 
Constitution  ;  that  they  shall  not  touch  the  question  of  the 
slave  trade  between  the  States  ;  that  they  shall  carry  out 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  Constitution  in  reference 
to  the  restitution  of  fugitive  slaves.  These  are  the  true  issues 
between  the  North  and  the  South  ;  and  I  would  go  as  far  as 
he  who  goes  furthest  in  exacting  them,  '  at  all  hazards,  and 
to  the  last  extremity."  And  what  I  would  ask  of  the  South 


320  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

is,  not  to  suffer  itself  to  be  led  off,  without  due  consideration, 
upon  false  issues,  presented  by  intemperate  or  over-zealous 
politicians,  many  of  whom  delight  in,  and  live  upon,  agita- 
tion and  excitement,  and  many  more,  perhaps,  who  owe  their 
ephemeral  fame  and  position  to  a  pretended,  exclusive  cham- 
pionship for  southern  rights.  Southern  honor  does  not 
depend  upon  making  unreasonable  and  untenable  demands. 
The  interference  with,  or  abolition  of  slavery,  where  it  exists, 
is  one  thing  ;  the  extension  of  it,  where  it  does  not  exist,  is 
a  very  different  thing  !  Let  us  claim  no  more  than  we  are 
entitled  to  under  the  Constitution  ;  and  then,  what  we  do 
claim,  let  us  stand  by,  like  men  who  "know  their  rights,  and, 
knowing,  dare  maintain  them." ' 

"  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  recant  what  I  said  here,  either  ; 
these  are  the  sentiments  I  now  entertain,  as  I  did  when  they 
were  delivered  before  the  people  of  Powhatan.  What  fault 
do  they  find  with  this  ?  Do  they  indorse  it  or  repudiate  it  ? 
If  they  indorse  it,  even-handed  justice  requires  them  to  say 
so.  If  they  condemn  it,  justice  to  themselves,  as  they  are 
resolved  to  make  war  on  me,  requires  that  they  should 
point  out  wherein  they  differ  from  me. 

"  In  this  connection  it  may  be  proper  to  add,  for  the  infor- 
mation of  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  my  record,  one  short 
paragraph  from  my  African  Church  speech,  in  1856,  relating 
to  the  same  subject ;  and  from  the  several  extracts  here- 
with furnished,  I  think  few  will  have  any  difficulty  in  ascer- 
taining my  position  on  the  slavery  question.  Here  is  the 
passage  referred  to  : 

" '  My  position  on  the  question  of  slavery  is  this  ;  and,  so 
far  from  wishing  to  conceal  it,  I  desire  it  should  be  known  to 
all.  Muzzles  were  made  for  dogs,  and  not  for  men  ;  and  no 
press  and  no  party  can  put  a  muzzle  on  my  mouth,  so  long  as 
I  value  my  freedom.  I  make  bold,  then,  to  proclaim  that  I 
am  no  slavery  propagandist.  I  will  resort  to  all  proper 
remedies  to  protect  and  defend  slavery  where  it  exists,  but  I 


JOHST   MINOR   BOTT8.  321 

will  neither  assist  in  nor  encourage  any  attempt  to  force  it 
upon  a  reluctant  people  anywhere,  and  still  less  will  I  justify 
the  use  of  the  military  power  of  the  country,  to  establish  it 
in  any  of  the  territories.  If  it  finds  its  way  there  by  legiti- 
mate means,  it  is  all  well  ;  but  never  by  force,  through  any 
instrumentality  of  mine.  I  am  myself  a  slaveholder,  and  all 
the  property  my  children  have  in  the  world  is  slave  property, 
inherited  from  their  mother  ;  and  he  who  undertakes  to  con- 
nect my  name,  or  my  opinions,  with  abolitionism,  is  either 
a  knave  or  a  fool,  and  not  unfrequently  both.  And  this  is 
the  only  answer  I  have  to  make  to  them.  I  have  not  con- 
nected myself  with  any  sectional  party  or  sectional  question  ; 
and  so  help  me  God,  I  never  will.' " 


14* 


JAMES   H.  HAMMOND. 

THE  moderate  political  views  which  Gov.  Ham- 
mond, of  South  Carolina,  has  within  a  couple  of  years 
given  publicity  to,  has  given  him  a  somewhat  na- 
tional reputation  among  the  adherents  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  came  to  Congress  as  a  politician 
of  the  Southern  Eights  school,  and  it  was  generally 
supposed  that  he  would  be  found  acting  with  the 
ultra  wing  of  the  Southern  party  in  Congress.  He 
brought  with  him  the  reputation  of  a  scholar  and  an 
orator,  and  mingled  at  once  in  the  Lecompton  fray. 
He  took  sides  with  the  administration  against  Mr. 
Douglas,  though  it  was  noticed  at  the  time  that  the 
senator  had  very  little  to  say  about  the  Lecompton 
Constitution  and  the  real  issue  then  before  Congress. 
His  speeches  were  upon  the  general  question  of 
slavery. 

The  new  senator  from  South  Carolina  attracted 
the  universal  attention  of  Congress  and  the  strangers 
then  present  in  "Washington,  and  the  impression  he 
made  was  generally  a  happy  one.  His  manners 
were  quiet,  unostentatious,  gentlemanly.  His  style 
of  speech  was  smooth,  pleasant,  and  sometimes  elo- 
quent. As  a  man  he  was  liked.  Genial  in  his  nature 


822 


JAMES   H.  HAMMOND.  323 

and  pleasant  in  his  conversation,  he  soon  made 
warm  friends  at  the  capital — even  among  some  of 
the  very  men  whom  he  had  in  his  South  Carolina 
home  regarded  as  little  less  than  monsters  in  human 
shape.  Senator  Hammond  at  first  tried  his  lance 
with  the  Illinois  Giant,  but  either  from  personal  con- 
siderations, or  other,  he  soon  desisted.  To  show 
Gov.  Hammond's  position  on  the  slavery  question  in 
the  winter  of  184/T-8,  we  quote  a  few  passages  from 
his  celebrated  speech  delivered  in  the  Senate  in  the 
Lecompton  debate.  We  have,  in  the  following  pas- 
sage, his  opinion  of  squatter  sovereignty  : 

"  If  what  I  have  said  be  correct,  then  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Kansas'  is  to  be  found  in  the  action  of  her  Constitu- 
tional Convention.  It  is  immaterial  whether  it  is  the  will  of 
a  majority  of  the  people  of  Kansas  now,  or  not.  The  con- 
vention was,  or  might  have  been,  elected  by  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  Kansas.  A  convention,  elected  in  April,  may 
well  frame  a  constitution  that  would  not  be  agreeable  to  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  a  new  State,  rapidly  filling  up,  in 
the  succeeding  January  ;  and  if  legislatures  are  to  be 
allowed  to  put  to  vote  the  acts  of  a  convention,  and  have 
them  annulled  by  a  subsequent  influx  of  immigrants,  there  is 
no  finality.  If  you  were  to  send  back  the  Lecompton  Con- 
stitution, and  another  was  to  be  framed,  in  the  slow  way  in 
which  we  do  public  business  in  this  country,  before  it  would 
reach  Congress  and  be  passed,  perhaps  the  majority  would 
be  turned  the  other  way.  Whenever  you  go  outside  of  the 
regular  forms  of  law  and  constitutions  to  seek  for  the  will  of 
the  people,  you  are  wandering  in  a  wilderness — a  wilderness 
of  thorns. 

"  If  this  was  a  minority  constitution,  I  do  not  know  that 


324  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

that  would  be  an  objection  to  it.  Constitutions  are  made 
for  minorities.  Perhaps  minorities  ought  to  have  the  right 
to  make  constitutions,  for  they  are  administered  by  majori- 
ties. The  Constitution  of  this  government  was  made  by  a 
minority,  and  as  late  as  1840  a  minority  had  it  in  their 
hands,  and  could  have  altered  or  abolished  it ;  for,  in  1840, 
six  out  of  the  twenty-six  States  of  the  Union  held  the  nume- 
rical majority.  In  all  countries  and  in  all  time,  it  is  well 
understood  that  the  numerical  majority  of  the  people  could, 
if  they  chose,  exercise  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  ;  but 
for  want  of  intelligence,  and  for  want  of  leaders,  they  have 
never  yet  been  able  successfully  to  combine  and  form  a  stable 
popular  government.  They  have  often  attempted  it,  but  it  has 
always  turned  out,  instead  of  a  popular  sovereignty,  a  popur 
lace,  sovereignty  ;  and  demagogues,  placing  themselves  upon 
the  movement,  have  invariably  led  them  into  military  des- 
potism. 

"  I  think  that  the  popular  sovereignty  which  the  senator 
from  Illinois  would  derive  from  the  acts  of  his  territorial 
legislature,  and  from  the  information  received  from  partisans 
and  partisan  presses,  would  lead  us  directly  into  populace,  and 
not  popular  sovereignty.  Genuine  popular  sovereignty  never 
existed  on  a  firm  basis  except  in  this  country.  The  first  gun 
of  the  Revolution  announced  a  new  organization  of  it,  which 
was  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  developed, 
elaborated,  and  inaugurated  forever  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  The  two  pillars  of  it  were  Representa- 
tion and  the  Ballot-box.  In  distributing  their  sovereign 
powers  among  the  various  departments  of  the  Government, 
the  people  retained  for  themselves  the  single  power  of  the 
ballot-box  ;  and  a  great  power  it  was.  Through  that  they 
were  able  to  control  all  the  departments  of  the  Government. 
It  was  not  for  the  people  to  exercise  political  power  in  detail  ; 
it  was  not  for  them  to  be  annoyed  with  the  cares  of  govern- 
ment ;  but,  from  time  to  time,  through  the  ballot-box,  to  exert 
their  sovereign  power  and  control  the  whole  organization. 


JAMES   H.  HAMMOND.  325 

This  is  popular  sovereignty,  the  popular  sovereignty  of  a  legal 
constitutional  ballot-box  ;  and  when  spoken  through  that 
box,  the  '  voitfe  of  the  people,'  for  all  political  purposes,  '  is 
the  voice  of  God  ;'  but  when  it  is  heard  outside  of  that,  it  is 
the  voice  of  a  demon,  the  tocsin  of  the  reign  of  terror." 

Speaking  of  the  South  and  slavery,  he  said : 

"  If  we  never  acquire  another  foot  of  territory  for  the 
South,  look  at  her.  Eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
square  miles.  As  large  as  Great  Britain,  France,  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  Spain.  Is  not  that  territory  enough  to  make 
an  empire  that  shall  rule  the  world  ?  With  the  finest  soil, 
the  most  delightful  climate,  whose  staple  productions  none  of 
those  great  countries  can  grow,  we  have  three  thousand 
miles  of  continental  shore  line,  so  indented  with  bays  and 
crowded  with  islands,  that,  when  their  shore  lines  are  added, 
we  have  twelve  thousand  miles.  Through  the  heart  of  our 
country  runs  the  great  Mississippi,  the  father  of  waters, 
into  whose  bosom  are  poured  thirty-six  thousand  miles  of 
tributary  streams  ;  and  beyond  we  have  the  desert  prairie 
wastes,  to  protect  us  in  our  rear.  Can  you  hem  in  such  a 
territory  as  that  ?  You  talk  of  putting  up  a  wall  of  firo 
around  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles  so  sit- 
uated !  How  absurd. 

"  Bat,  in  this  territory  lies  the  great  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, now  the  real,  and  soon  to  be  the  acknowledged,  seat  of 
empire  of  the  world.  The  sway  of  that  valley  will  be  as 
great  as  ever  the  Nile  knew  in  the  earlier  ages  of  mankind. 
We  own  the  most  of  it.  The  most  valuable  part  of  it  be- 
longs to  us  now ;  and,  although  those  who  have  settled  above 
us  are  now  opposed  to  us,  another  generation  will  tell  a  dif- 
ferent tale.  They  are  ours  by  all  the  laws  of  nature  ;  slave 
labor  will  go  over  every  foot  of  this  great  valley  where  it 
will  be  found  profitable  to  use  it  ;  and  some  of  those  who 
may  not  use  it  are  soon  to  be  united  with  us  by  such  ties  as 
will  make  us  one  and  inseparable.  The  iron  horse  will  soon 


326  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

be  clattering  over  the  sunny  plains  of  the  South,  to  bear  the 
products  of  its  upper  tributaries  to  our  Atlantic  ports,  as  it 
now  does  through  the  ice-bound  North.  There  is  the  great 
Mississippi,  a  bond  of  union  made  by  Nature  herself.  She 
will  maintain  it  forever." 

****** 

"  In  all  social  systems,  there  must  be  a  class  to  do  the 
menial  duties,  to  perform  the  drudgery  of  life — that  is,  a  class 
requiring  but  a  low  order  of  intellect  and  but  little  skill. 
Its  requisites  are  vigor,  docility,  fidelity.  Such  a  class  you 
must  have,  or  you  would  not  have  that  other  class  which 
leads  progress,  civilization,  and  refinement.  It  constitutes 
the  very  mud-sill  of  society  and  of  political  government ;  and 
you  might  as  well  attempt  to  build  a  house  in  the  air,  as  to 
build  either  the  one  or  the  other,  except  on  this  mud-sill. 
Fortunately  for  the  South,  she  found  a  race  adapted  to  that 
purpose  to  her  hand — a  race  inferior  to  her  own,  but  eminent- 
ly qualified,  in  temper,  in  vigor,  in  docility,  in  capacity,  to 
stand  the  climate  to  answer  all  her  purposes.  "We  use  them 
for  our  purpose,  and  call  them  slaves.  We  found  them  slaves, 
by  the  '  common  consent  of  mankind,'  which,  according  to 
Cicero,  '  ler.  natures  est ' — the  highest  proof  of  what  is 
Nature's  law.  We  are  old-fashioned  at  the  South  yet  ;  it  is 
a  word  discarded  now  by  '  ears  polite  ;?  I  will  not  charac- 
terize that  class  at  the  North  with  that  term  ;  but  you  have 
it ;  it  is  there  ;  it  is  everywhere  ;  it  is  eternal." 

Upon  going  home  to  his  South  Carolina  plantation, 
a  change  seems  to  have  come  over  the  mind  of  the 
senator — or  he  was  greatly  misunderstood  while  at 
Washington.  In  a  speech,  delivered  at  Brownwell 
Court  House,  South  Carolina,  October  27,  1858,  he 
astonished  some  of  his  neighbors  as  well  as  distant 
friends  and  enemies,  by  the  enunciation  of  pecu- 


JAMES   H.  HAMMOND.  327 

liarly  moderate  views  for  a  South  Carolina  Demo- 
crat. Let  us  quote  a  few  paragraphs.  First  upon 
Disunion.  Says  Senator  Hammond : 

"  But  I  will  not  detain  you  longer  with  what  belongs  to 
the  past.  The  present  and  the  future  are  what  concern  us 
most.  You  desire  to  know  my  opinion  of  the  course  the 
South  should  pursue  under  existing  circumstances.  I  will 
give  you,  frankly  and  fully,  the  results  of  my  observations 
and  reflections  on  this  all-important  point.  The  first  ques- 
tion is,  Do  the  people  of  the  South  consider  the  present 
Union  of  these  States  as  an  evil  in  itself,  and  a  thing  that  it 
is  desirable  we  should  get  rid  of  under  all  circumstances  ? 
There  are  some,  I  know,  who  do  ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  South  would,  if  assured  that 
this  government  was  hereafter  to  be  conducted  on  the  true 
principles  and  construction  of  the  Constitution,  decidedly 
prefer  to  remain  in  the  Union  rather  than  incur  the  unknown 
costs  and  hazards  of  setting  up  a  separate  government.  I 
think  I  say  what  is  true  when  I  say  that,  after  all  the  bitter- 
ness that  has  characterized  our  long  warfare,  the  great  body 
of  the  southern  people  do  not  seek  disunion,  and  will  not 
seek  it  as  a  primary  object,  however  promptly  they  may  ac- 
cept it  as  an  alternative,  rather  than  submit  to  unconstitu- 
tional abridgments  of  their  rights.  I  confess  that  for  many 
years  of  my  life  I  believed  that  our  only  safety  was  in  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  I  openly  avowed  it.  I  should 
entertain  and  without  hesitation  express  the  same  sentiments 
now,  but  that  the  victories  we  have  achieved,  and  those  I 
think  we  are  about  to  achieve,  have  inspired  me  with  hope,  I 
may  say  the  belief,  that  we  can  fully  sustain  ourselves  in  the 
Union,  .and  control  its  action  in  all  great  affairs." 

Upon  the  African  Slave  Trade  thus  speaks  the 
senator : 


328  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  We  have  it  proposed  to  reopen  the  African  slave  trade 
and  bring  in  hordes  of  slaves  from  that  prolific  region  to  res- 
tore the  balance.  I  once  entertained  that  idea  myself ;  but, 
on  further  investigation,  I  abandoned  it.  I  will  not  now  go 
into  the  discussion  of  it  further  than  to  say  that  the  South 
is  itself  divided  on  that  policy,  and,  from  appearances, 
opposed  to  it  by  a  vast  majority,  while  the  North  is  unani- 
mously against  it.  It  would  be  impossible  to  get  Congress 
to  reopen  the  trade.  If  it  could  be  done,  then  it  would  be 
unnecessary,  for  that  result  could  only  be  brought  about  by 
such  an  entire  abandonment  by  the  North  and  the  world  of 
all  opposition  to  our  slave  system  that  we  might  safely  cease 
to  erect  any  defences  for  it.  But  if  we  could  introduce 
slaves,  where  could  we  find  suitable  territory  for  new  slave 
States?  The  Indian  Reserve,  west  of  Arkansas,  might 
make  one  ;  but  we  have  solemnly  guaranteed  that  to  the 
remnants  of  the  red  race.  Everywhere  else,  I  believe,  the 
borders  of  our  States  have  reached  the  great  desert  which 
separates  the  Atlantic  from  the  Pacific  States  of  this  Confe- 
deracy. Nowhere  is  African  slavery  likely  to  flourish  in  the 
little  oasis  of  that  Sahara  of  America.  It  is  much  more 
likely,  I  think,  to  get  the  Pacific  slope  and  to  the  north  in  the 
great  valley  than  anywhere  else  outside  of  its  present  limits. 
Shall  we,  as  some  suggest,  take  Mexico  and  Central  America 
to  make  slave  States  ?  African  slavery  appears  to  have 
failed  there.  Perhaps,  and  most  probably,  it  will  never  suc- 
ceed in  those  regions.  If  it  might,  what  are  we  to  do  with 
the  seven  or  eight  millions  of  hardly  semi-civilized  Indians 
and  the  two  or  three  millions  of  Creole  Spaniards  and  Mon- 
grels who  now  hold  those  countries  ?  We  would  not  enslave 
the  Indians  !  Experience  has  proved  that  they  arc  incapa- 
ble of  steady  labor,  and  are  therefore  unfit  for  slavery.  We 
would  not  exterminate  them,  even  if  that  inhuman  achieve- 
ment would  not  cost  ages  of  murder  and  incalculable  sums 
of  money.  We  could  hardly  think  of  attempting  to  plant 
the  black  race  there,  superior  for  labor,  though  inferior,  per- 


JAMES    H.  HAMMOND.  329 

haps,  in  intellect,  and  expect  to  maintain  a  permanent  and 
peaceful  industry,  such  as  slave  labor  must  be  to  be  profita- 
ble, amid  those  idle,  restless,  demoralized  children  of  Monte- 
zuma,  scarcely  more  civilized,  perhaps  more  sunk  in  supersti- 
tion, than  in  his  age,  and  now  trained  to  civil  war  by  half  a 
century  of  incessant  revolution.  What,  I  say,  could  we  do 
with  these  people  or  these  countries  to  add  to  southern 
strength  ?  Nothing.  Could  we  degrade  ourselves  so  far  as 
to  annex  them  on  equal  terms,  they  would  be  sure  to  come 
into  this  Union  free  States  all.  To  touch  them  in  any  way 
is  to  be  contaminated.  England  and  France,  I  have  no 
doubt,  would  gladly  see  us  take  this  burden  on  our  back  if 
we  would  secure  for  them  their  debts  and  a  neutral  route 
across  the  Isthmus.  Such  a  route  we  must  have  for  our- 
selves, and  that  is  all  we  have  to  do  with  them.  If  we  can 
not  get  it  by  negotiation  or  by  purchase,  we  must  seize  and 
hold  it  by  force  of  arms.  The  law  of  nations  would  justify  it, 
and  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  our  Pacific  relations.  The 
present  condition  of  those  unhappy  States  is  certainly  deplo- 
rable, but  the  good  God  holds  them  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand  and  will  work  out  their  proper  destinies." 

Upon  the  Cuban  question  : 

"  We  might  expand  the  area  of  slavery  by  acquiring  Cuba, 
where  African  slavery  is  already  established.  Mr.  Calhoun, 
from  whose  matured  opinions,  whether  on  constitutional  prin- 
ciples or  southern  policy,  it  will  rarely  be  found  safe  to  depart, 
said  that  Cuba  was  '  forbidden  fruit '  to  us  unless  plucked  in  an 
exigency  of  war.  There  is  no  reasonable  grounds  to  suppose 
that  we  can  acquire  it  in  any  other  way  ;  and  the  war  that 
will  open  to  us  such  an  occasion  will  be  great  and  general, 
and  bring  about  results  that  the  keenest  intellect  cannot  now 
anticipate.  But  if  we  had  Cuba,  we  could  not  make  more 
than  two  or  three  slave  States  there,  which  would  not  res- 
tore the  equilibrium  of  the  North  and  South  ;  while,  with 
the  African  slave  trade  closed,  aud  her  only  resort  for  slaves 


330  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

to  this  continent,  she  would,  besides  crushing  our  whole  sugar 
culture  by  her  competition,  afford  in  a  few  years  a  market 
for  all  the  slaves  in  Missouri,  Kentucky  and  Maryland.  She 
is,  notwithstanding  the  exorbitant  taxes  imposed  on  her, 
capable  now  of  absorbing  the  annual  increase  of  all  the 
slaves  on  this  continent,  and  consumes,  it  is  said,  twenty  to 
thirty  thousand  a  year  by  her  system  of  labor.  Slaves 
decrease  there  largely.  In  time,  under  the  system  practised, 
every  slave  in  America  might  be  exterminated  in  Cuba  as 
were  the  Indians.  However  the  idle  African  may  procreate 
in  the  tropics,  it  yet  remains  to  be  proven,  and  the  facts  are 
against  the  conclusion,  that  he  can  in  those  regions  work  and 
thrive.  It  is  said  Cuba  is  to  be  '  Africanized '  rather  than 
that  the  United  States  should  take  her.  That  threat,  which 
at  one  time  was  somewhat  alarming,  is  no  longer  any  cause 
of  disquietude  to  the  South,  after  our  experience  of  the 
Africanizing  of  St.  Domingo  and  Jamaica.  What  have  we 
lost  by  that?" 

And  finally  upon  his  own  position  as  a  National 
Democrat : 

"  And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  having  never  been  a  mere 
party  politician,  intriguing  and  wire-pulling  to  advance  myself 
or  others,  I  am  not  learned  in  the  rubric  of  the  thousand  slang, 
unmeaning  and  usually  false  party  names  to  which  our  age 
gives  birth.  But  I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  there 
are  two  parties  in  the  South,  called  '  National '  and  '  State 
Rights '  Democrats.  The  word  '  national '  having  been  care- 
fully excluded  from  the  Constitution  by  those  who  framed  it, 
I  never  supposed  it  applicable  to  any  principle  of  our  govern- 
ment ;  and  having  been  surrendered  to  the  almost  exclusive 
use  in  this  country  of  the  federal  consolidationists,  I  have 
myself  repudiated  it.  But  if  a  southern  '  National  Demo- 
crat' means  one  who  is  ready  to  welcome  into  our  ranks 
with  open  arms,  and  cordiality  embrace  and  promote  accord- 
ing to  his  merits  every  honest  free  State  man  who  reads  the 


JAMES   H.  HAMMOND.  331 

Constitution  as  we  do,  and  will  cooperate  with  us  in  its  main- 
tenance, then  I  belong  to  that  party,  call  it  as  you  may,  and 
I  should  grieve  to  find  a  southern  man  who  does  not. 

"  But,  on  the  other  hand,  having  been  all  my  life,  and 
being  still,  an  ardent  '  State  Rights '  man — believing  '  State 
Rights '  to  be  an  essential,  nay,  the  essential,  element  of  the 
Constitution,  and  that  no  one  who  thinks  otherwise  can 
stand  on  the  same  constitutional  platform  that  I  do,  it  seems 
to  me  that  I  am,  and  all  those  with  whom  I  act  habitually 
are,  if  Democrats  at  all,  true  '  State  Rights  Democrats.' 
Nothing  in  public  affairs  so  perplexes  and  annoys  me  as  these 
absurd  party  names,  and  I  never  could  be  interested  hi  them. 
I  could  easily  comprehend  two  great  parties,  standing  on  two 
great  antagonistic  principles  which  are  inherent  in  all  things 
human  ;  the  right  and  the  wrong,  the  good  and  the  evil, 
according  to  the  peculiar  views  of  each  individual ;  and  was 
never  at  a  loss  to  find  my  side,  as  now,  in  what  are  known  as 
the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  of  this  country.  But 
the  minor  distinctions  have,  for  the  most  part,  seemed  to  me 
to  be  factitious  and  factious,  gotten  up  by  cunning  men  for 
selfish  purposes,  to  which  the  true  patriot  and  honest  man 
should  be  slow  to  lend  himself.  For  myself  and  for  you, 
while  I  represent  you,  I  shall  go  for  the  Constitution  strictly 
construed  and  faithfully  carried  out.  I  will  make  my  fight, 
such  as  it  may  be,  by  the  side  of  any  man,  whether  from  the 
North,  South,  East  or  West,  who  will  do  the  same  ;  and  I 
will  do  homage  to  his  virtue,  his  ability,  his  courage,  and,  so 
far  as  I  can,  make  just  compensation  for  his  toils,  and 
hazards,  and  sacrifices.  As  to  the  precise  mode  and  manner 
of  conducting  this  contest,  that  must  necessarily,  to  a  great 
extent,  depend  upon  the  exigencies  that  arise  ;  but,  of  course, 
I  could  be  compelled  by  no  exigency,  by  no  party  ties  or 
arrangements,  to  give  up  my  principles,  or  the  least  of  those 
principles  which  constitute  our  great  cause." 

Senator  Hammond  entered  the  Senate  with  the  re- 


332  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

putation  of  a  southern  "  Fire-eater,"  but  before  a  year 
had  passed  by,  he  had  taken  ground  with  the  most 
conservative  northern  Democrat,  on  Cuba,  the  Afri- 
can slave  trade,  and  the  general  question  of  the 
annexation  of  foreign  territory  to  this  Union.  Here 
was  an  apparent  change  which  very  naturally  excited 
the  criticisms  of  the  ultra  southern  politicians. 

Gov.  Hammond  is  a  native  of  Newberg  District, 
South  Carolina,  where  he  was  born,  November  15, 
1807.  His  parents  were  natives  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  graduated  at  Columbia  College,  S.  C., 
practised  law  from  1828  to  1830,  afterward  became 
editor  of  the  "  Southern  Times,"  came  to  Congress  a 
single  term  in  1835  and  when  the  two  years  were  over, 
made  the  trip  of  Europe.  In  1841,  he  was  made  a 
militia  general — yet  something  of  an  honor  in  South 
Carolina — and  a  year  later  was  elected  Governor  of 
the  Palmetto  State.  After  a  single  term  he  retired 
to  his  extensive  estate  upon  the  Savannah  River, 
where  he  remained  in  quiet,  raising  cotton  and  read- 
ing books  till  in  1857  he  was  elected  by  the  State  legis- 
lature to  represent,  in  part,  South  Carolina  in  the 
United  States  Senate. 

In  his  personal  appearance  Senator  Hammond  is 
prepossessing.  He  is  of  medium  height,  has  a  fine, 
open  face,  sparkling  black  eyes,  and  black  hair — 
what  there  is  left — a  broad  forehead  and  the  manners 
of  a  pleasant  gentleman. 


HOWELL    COBB. 

MR.  COBB  is  a  native  of  Cherry  Hill,  Georgia, 
where  he  was  born,  in  September,  1815.  His  father 
was  in  affluent  circumstances,  and  the  family  one  of 
distinction.  He  was  educated  at  Franklin  College, 
Georgia,  where  he  graduated  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
in  the  year  1834.  His  uncle,  Howell  Cobb,  after 
whom  he  was  named,  was  in  Congress  during  the 
war  of  1812,  and  still  later  a  cousin  was  U.  S.  senator. 
So  the  young  man  had  examples  in  his  own  family 
of  political  distinction  which  were  calculated  to  fire 
his  ambition. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Cobb  was  married,  which  was  set 
down,  we  dare  say,  by  his  elderly  friends  as  a  very  im- 
prudent step,  for  he  was  but  nineteen  and  had  no  pro- 
fession ;  nevertheless,  he  established  his  household 
gods  at  that  time,  and  two  years  after  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  The  very  next  year  he  was  made  solicitor 
general  of  the  western  part  of  Georgia,  so  finely  had 
he  succeeded  in  his  profession.  For  the  next  three 
years  he  applied  himself  very  closely  to  the  duties  of 
his  profession,  and  being  naturally  shrewd  and  quick- 
witted, he  at  once  attained  unusual  success.  To  this 


334  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

day,  in  Upper  Georgia,  Mr.  Cobb  lias  a  reputation 
unsurpassed  by  no  local  favorite. 

Early  in  life,  Mr.  Cobb  was  known  as  a  Jackson 
or  Union  man,  in  the  thick  of  the  nullifica- 
tion agitation.  Either  from  education  or  nature,  he 
seems  from  the  first  to  have  had  a  repugnance  for 
ultraism,  and  has  therefore  never  agreed  with  that 
class  of  southern  politicians  usually  termed  Fire-eaters. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Cobb  was  elected  to  Congress,  where 
he,  in  a  short  time,  rose  to  a  prominent  position  as 
one  of  the  party  leaders  among  the  Democratic  mem- 
bers. He  was  especially  great  on  parliamentary  ques- 
tions, and  was  in  his  way  a  party  oracle  in  these  mat- 
ters. Though  he  never  sympathized  with  the  dis- 
unionists  of  the  South,  he  has  been  a  consistent  as  well 
as  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  institution  of  negro  sla- 
very. His  entire  course  in  Congress  showed  his  strong 
and  persistent  opposition  to  any  of  the  movements  of 
the  friends  of  freedom.  He  voted  against  the  right 
of  petition  on  the  3d  of  May,  1844,  and  made  a 
strong  speech  in  favor  of  utter  free  trade.  Mr.  Cobb 
also  favored  the  Mexican  war.  In  1849,  he  under- 
went a  severe  contest  in  Georgia.  While  in  Con- 
gress he  supported  the  famous  compromise  measures, 
which  secured  to  him  the  opposition  and  enmity  of 
the  southern  fire-eaters.  The  greatest  contest  of  his 
life  ensued.  The  Union  Democrats  put  him  in  nomi- 
nation for  Governor  of  Georgia,  and  he  took  the 


HOWELL  COBB.  335 

stump  and  was  elected  by  a  tremendous  majority. 
In  1855,  he  was  reflected  to  Congress  and  was  soon 
known  as  a  Buchanan  man.  He  labored  for  Mr. 
Buchanan's  nomination,  and  when  he  was  nominated 
canvassed  the  county  in  favor  of  his  election.  This 
secured,  Mr.  Cobb  was  rewarded  for  his  services  by  a 
seat  in  the  Cabinet,  and  as  he  was  thought  to  be 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  Treasury  Department,  he 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

As  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  Mr.  Cobb  used  his 
influence  in  favor  of  the  Lecompton  bill  and  made 
war  upon  Mr.  Douglas.  During  the  winter  of  1858-9 
his  recommendations  on  the  tariff  question  were 
thought  to  indicate  a  change  of  opinion.  Formerly 
he  was  in  favor  of  free  trade,  and  lacking  that,  he  was 
in  favor  of  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  it.  But 
in  his  communications  to  Congress  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  Mr.  Cobb  admitted  that  the  revenues  of 
the  country  were  not  sufficient  for  its  expenses,  and 
he  recommended  a  revision  of  the  tariff  to  meet  the 
emergency.  It  is  not  probable,  however,  under  pre- 
sent circumstances,  that  he  would  favor  any  change 
in  the  tariff. 

As  a  man — socially  speaking,  we  mean — Mr.  Cobb 
is  a  favorite.  Good  natured  and  intelligent,  he  is 
surrounded  by  scores  of  friends,  who  like  him  all  the 
better  for  the  fact  that  he  has  been  independent 
enough  in  his  political  career  to  make  enemies. 


JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE. 

PERHAPS  no  public  man  has  more  friends  or  fewer 
enemies  than  Mr.  Breckinridge ;  but  his  modesty,  or 
caution,  is  so  great,  that  but  few  particulars  of  his 
history  have  ever  got  into  print.  His  high  position 
has  attracted  -the  eyes  of  the  nation  as  well  as  the 
Senate  to  him,  and  he  has  been  unanimously  pro- 
nounced, both  by  political  friend  and  foe,  to  be  an 
impartial  presiding  officer,  and  a  pleasant  and  up- 
right man.  His  personal  appearance  is  unusually 
prepossessing,  and  his  social  bearing  is  such  as  to 
win  him  scores  of  friends. 

Mr.  Breckinridge  was  born  near  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, January  21,  1821,  and  is  the  grandson  of 
John  Breckinridge,  who  was  United  States  Sena- 
tor and  Attorney  General.  He  was  educated  at 
Central  College,  Danville,  and  studied  law  at  Tran- 
sylvania Institute.  After  his  professional  education 
was  complete,  he  emigrated  to  Iowa,  but  the  frontier 
life  did  not  suit  him,  and  he  returned  to  Kentucky, 
where  there  was  a  better  field  for  the  display  of  his 
talents.  Soon  after  his  return,  he  married  Miss 
Birch  of  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  and  settled  down  in 


JOHN   C.  EEECKINEIDGE.  337 

Lexington  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  "When 
the  Mexican  war  broke  out,  he  volunteered  at  once 
to  take  a  part  in  it,  and  was  elected  Major  of  the 
Third  Regiment  of  Kentucky  volunteers.  The  regi- 
ment came  to  the  scene  of  strife  so  lute  that  they  did 
not  see  much  active  service. 

Upon  Mr.  Breckinridge's  return  from  Mexico,  he 
was  elected  to  the  State  legislature,  and  in  1851, 
after  an  exciting  contest  with  General  Leslie  Coomb, 
lie  was  elected  to  Congress.  In  1853,  a  still  fiercer 
canvass  ensued ;  but  he  was  reflected  to  the  House 
by  a  heavy  majority.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to 
deliver  a  eulogy  upon  Henry  Clay,  a  political 
opponent. 

In  the  Thirty-third  Congress,  an  unpleasant  scene 
occurred  between  Mr.  Breckinridge  and  Mr.  Cutting 
of  New  York,  upon  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  act. 
Mr.  Cutting,  though  a  Democrat,  refused  to  support 
that  measure,  while  Mr.  Breckinridge  supported  it 
with  considerable  zeal. 

The  debate  occurred  March  27,  1854,  and  we  quote 
from  a  report  of  it : 

"Tl:e  House  of  Representatives,  Monday,  resolved  itself 
into  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  Custom  House  bill,  Mr. 
Hamilton  in  the  chair  ;  but  the  chairman  decided  that  be- 
fore that  bill  could  be  taken  up,  all  those  preceding  it  must 
first  be  set  aside  ;  and  that  the  first  business  in  order  was 
the  consideration  of  the  bill  making  appropriations  for  the 
civil  and  diplomatic  expenses  of  the  Government  for  the 
15 


338  PRESIDENTIAL    CAMjiUATES. 

year  ending  June  30,  1855.  Mr.  Houston  moved  that  the 
committee  take  up  the  bill  named  by  the  Chair,  which  was 
agreed  to. 

"  Mr.  Cutting  then  arose  and  replied  to  the  remarks  made 
by  Mr.  Breckinridge  on  Thursday  last.  He  adverted  to  his 
course  in  moving  that  the  Senate  Nebraska  bill  be  committed 
to  the  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union, 
and  said  that  at  that  time  he  gave  his  reasons  for  the  act, 
and  declared"  that  there  was  no  gentleman  on  this  floor  who 
was  to  be  regarded  as  a  stronger  and  more  zealous  advocate 
of  the  great  principle  which  the  measure  was  said  to  contain 
— that  of  non-intervention — than  he  was.  But  the  bill 
required  amendment  and  discussion  before  it  could  receive 
that  support  to  which,  in  his  opinion,  it  was  entitled.  After 
this  subject  had  been  disposed  of,  and  after  the  elapse  of 
some  two  days,  a  gentleman  from  a  slaveholding  State,  who 
had  had  no  lot  or  parcel  in  its  discussion,  as  a  volunteer 
merely,  came  into  the  House,  and  thought  it  not  incompati- 
ble with  his  character  as  a  leading  member  to  undertake  to 
assail  his  motives  ;  though  it  was  true  that  he  disclaimed 
any  intention  of  attacking  them.  The  gentleman  [Mr. 
Breckinridge]  came  into  the  House,  with  concentrated 
wrath  and  bitterness,  to  assail  him  for  having,  in  his  place, 
and  under  his  responsibility  as  a  member,  stated  his  views 
frankly  as  to  the  direction  this  bill  ought  to  take. 

"The  gentleman  had  charged  him  with  being  a  secret 
enemy  of  the  bill,  and,  while  professing  friendship  for  it,  as 
having  taken  a  course  which  would  end  in  its  destruction. 
When  did  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  ever  hear  him  say 
he  was  friendly  to  the  bill  ?  The  gentleman  was  present, 
and  heard  him  declare  his  opposition  to  it  in  the  shape  in 
which  it  came  from  the  Senate,  and  the  belief  that  not  only 
himself,  but  a  majority  of  the  House,  would  be  found  against 
it.  Had  not  the  gentleman  sufficient  perspicuity  of  under- 
standing to  know  the  difference  between  the  principles  in- 


JOHN   C.  BEECKINEIDGE.  339 

volved  in  a  measure  and  a  bill  which  professed  to  carry  them 
out  ?  And  when  he  [Mr.  C.]  declared  in  this  House  frankly 
and  openly,  before  the  question  on  the  motion  to  commit 
was  put,  that  he  was  against  the  bill,  but  in  favor  of  the 
principles  which  it  professed  to  enact,  how  came  the  gentle- 
man to  undertake  to  declare  that  he  [Mr.  C.]  had  declared 
himself  a  friend  of  the  bill,  against  the  record,  against  the 
reports  that  appeared  everywhere  ? 

"  The  gentleman  had  complained  that  by  the  motion  to 
commit  he  [Mr.  C.]  had  consigned  this  measure  to  the  tomb 
of  the  Capulets.  If  this  were  so,  and  this  bill  could  never 
again  be  brought  before  the  House,  why  did  the  gentleman 
submit  to  an  hour's'argument  to  prove  that  it  ought  to  pass  ? 
It  was  time  wasted,  time  thrown  away.  No  gentleman 
acquainted  with  the  orders  of  the  calendar  could  for  a 
moment  believe  that  sending  this  bill  to  the  committee  of 
the  whole  would  prevent  action  on  it  this  session.  The  gen- 
tleman had  said  that  there  were  scores  and  scores  of  bills 
before  it  on  the  calendar.  Now,  what  was  the  fact  ?  There 
were  some  eighteen  or  nineteen  bills  and  resolutions,  all  told, 
large  and  small,  of  great  and  little  degree,  ahead  of  it  on  the 
calendar,  including  appropriation  bills,  which  were  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means.  Then 
why,  with  this  fact  staring  the  gentleman  in  the  face,  did  the 
gentleman  undertake,  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  assault 
on  him,  to  declare  that  there  were  scores  upon  scores  of 
bills  before  this  measure  on  the  calendar  ?  By  what  autho- 
rity did  the  gentleman,  who  had  a  supposed  connection  with 
the  Administration,  complain  of  him,  a  friend  of  the  measure, 
of  undertaking  to  send  it  to  a  tomb,  where  there  was  a 
mountain  piled  upon  it,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  false 
impression  in  the  public  mind  ? 

"  For  the  course  he  had  seen  proper  to  pursue  he  had  been 
assailed  in  papers  of  this  city  (one  of  them,  the  "  Union,"  it 
was  said,  conducted  by  the  clerk  of  this  House),  and  by 


340  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

other  presses.  How  was  it  that  he,  a  friend  of  the  measure, 
had  been  selected  as  a  victim  to  drive  off  those  who  had 
given  the  principle  their  support  ?  Was  it  to  assassinate 
the  friends  who  had  stood  with  him  on  this  subject  ? 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE. — Does  the  gentleman  intend  to  apply 
that  remark  to  me  ? 

"  MR.  CUTTING. — Not  unless  you  consider  yourself  a  portion 
of  the  Union  newspaper. 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE. — I  was  at  that  moment  taking  a  note, 
and  heard  the  word.  I  would  ask  whether  the  gentleman 
applied  the  remark  to  me  ? 

"  MR.  CUTTING. — I  did  not.  I  am  the  only  one  charged 
with  being  an  assassin. 

"  He  had  been  subject  to  the  continual  attacks  of  New 
York  papers,  which,  while  opposing  this  measure,  were 
enjoying  the  patronage  of  the  Administration. 

"  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he  said  that  there  was 
but  one  single  ground  upon  which  the  Democracy  of  the 
North  could  stand,  and  that  was  the  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention. If  this  was  found  in  the  bill,  he  should  vote  for  it  ; 
and  the  reason  why  he  wished  it  referred  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  into  the  matter,  that  there  might  be  a 
distinct  and  plain  understanding  between  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  as  to  the  character  of  the  act,  so  that 
there  might  be  no  misunderstanding  upon  the  subject  of  the 
principles  contained  in  it. 

"  Mr.  Breckinridge  said  that  he  had  forborne  to  interrupt 
the  gentleman  ;  but  whilst  his  remarks  were  fresh  in  his 
mind  he  wished  to  reply. 

"  Mr.  Cutting  yielded,  and  no  objection  was  made  to 
Mr.  B.'s  proceeding. 

"  Mr.  Breckinridge  said  that  he  had  listened  to  the  gen- 
tleman from  New  York,  who  had  not  met  a  single  position 
which  he  took  the  other  day.  He  had  been  amazed  at  the 
manner  in  which  a  man  of  intellectual  ingenuity  had  twisted 


JOHN   C.  BEECKINEIDGE.  341 

and  distorted  words  and  opinions  out  of  their  proper  connec- 
tions. 

"  He  explained  that  the  reason  why  he  permitted  two  days 
to  elapse  before  he  replied  to  the  gentleman,  was  because  the 
gentleman  himself,  after  making  his  speech  the  other  day  on 
the  motion  to  commit,  put  down  the  hatchway  of  the  pre- 
vious question,  so  that  he  was  denied  an  opportunity  of 
responding  to  him. 

"  He  had  said,  and  he  now  repeated,  that  with  the  gentle- 
man's motives  he  had  nothing  to  do  ;  he  had  made  and 
should  make  no  attack  upon  them.  When  he  spoke  of  the 
movement  of  the  gentleman,  he  characterized  it  as  one  the 
effect  of  which  would  be  to  kill  the  bill,  and  said  that  after 
the  question  was  decided,  he  was  surrounded  by  every  aboli- 
tionist in  the  hall,  and  received  their  congratulations  for  the 
course  he  had  pursued.  He  did  not  intend  to  charge  the 
gentleman  with  intentionally  playing  the  part  of  an  assassin  ; 
but  said,  and  could  not  take  it  back,  that  the  act,  to  all 
intents,  was  like  throwing  one  arm  around  it  in  friendship, 
and  stabbing  it  with  the  other — to  kill  the  bill. 

"  The  gentleman  from  New  York  had  said  that  there  were 
but  eighteen  or  nineteen  bills  before  the  Nebraska  bill  on  the 
calendar  ? 

"  MR.  ENGLISH. — There  are  fifty  bills  before  the  Senate  bill. 

"  MR.  CUTTING. — Before  the  House  bill  ? 

"  MR.  BRECKIXRIDGE. — I  will  nail  the  gentleman  to  the 
counter  there.  '  Before  the  House  bill  ?'  says  he.  '  Why, 
I  give  up  that  we  will  never  reach  the  Senate  bill,  but  we 
will  reach  the  House  bill.'  But  did  not  the  gentleman  say 
that  his  object  in  moving  to  commit  the  bill  was  that  he 
might  discuss  the  bill  and  examine  the  Badger  proviso  ? 
And  is  not  the  Badger  amendment  contained  in  the  Senate 
bill  ?  Thus  it  would  be  seen  that  the  bill  which  the  gentle- 
man moved  to  commit  for  the  purpose  of  examining  into 
could  never  be  reached. 


342  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  The  meaning  of  the  gentleman's  remarks  about  the  press 
was,  that  he  (Mr.  B.)  had  acted  in  concert  with  papers  in 
this  city  to  drive  the  gentleman  from  the  support  of  the  bill. 
Was  it  not  a  low  ambition  for  a  man  to  take  a  course 
against  a  measure  because  another  was  for  it  ?  Did  the  gen- 
tleman suppose  that  twenty  Administrations  could  ever  drive 
him  (Mr.  B.)  from  his  position  ?  Even  if  the  Administra- 
tion were  against  the  bill,  he  (Mr.  B.)  would  go  for  it. 
They  should  never  influence  him  in  this  respect.  He  had  no 
more  connection  with  the  Administration  than  any  other  gen- 
tleman on  this  floor. 

"The  gentleman  had  said  that  he  (Mr.  B.)  was  the  last 
individual  whom  he  supposed  would  have  made  an  assault  on 
him,  because  in  the  hour  of  his  greatest  need  the  Hards  came 
to  his  assistance.  This  innuendo  was  so  deep  that  he  could 
not  understand  it,  and  therefore  asked  for  an  explanation. 

"MR.  CUTTING  replied,  that  he  had  been  informed  that  dur- 
ing the  canvass  in  Kentucky,  it  having  been  intimated  that 
the  gentleman's  friends  needed  assistance  to  accomplish  his 
election,  his  friends  in  New  York  made  up  a  subscription  of 
some  $1,500,  and  transmitted  it  to  Kentucky,  to  be  em- 
employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  gentleman,  who  is  now  the 
peer  of  Presidents  and  Cabinets.  [Laughter.] 

"  MR.  BRECKIKRIDGE. — And  not  only  the  peer  of  Presidents 
and  Cabinets,  but  the  peer  of  the  gentleman  from  New  York, 
fully  and  in  every  respect. 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE,  resuming,  said  that  the  gentleman 
should  have  known  the  truth  of  what  he  uttered  before  he 
pronounced  it  on  this  floor.  He  (Mr.  B.)  was  not  aware  that 
any  intimations  were  sent  from  Kentucky  that  funds  were 
needed  to  aid  in  his  election,  nor  was  he  aware  that  they 
were  received.  He  did  not  undertake  to  say  what  the  fact 
might  be  in  regard  to  what  the  gentleman  had  said,  but  he 
had  no  information  whatever  on  that  fact.  He  (Mr.  B.) 
came  here  not  by  the  aid  of  money,  but  against  the  use  of 


JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE.  34:3 

money.  [Applause.]  The  gentleman  could  not  escape  by 
any  subtlety,  or  by  any  ingenuity,  a  thorough  and  complete 
exposure  of  any  ingenious  device  to  which  he  might  resort  for 
the  purpose  of  putting  gentlemen  in  a  false  position,  and  the 
sooner  lie  stopped  that  game,  the  better. 

"  MR.  CUTTING  said  that  he  had  given  the  gentleman  an 
opportunity  of  indulging  in  one  of  the  most  violent,  inflamma- 
tory, and  personal  assaults  that  had  ever  been  known  upon 
this  floor  ;  and  he  would  ask,  how  could  the  gentleman  dis- 
claim any  attack  upon  him  when  he  followed  it  up  by  declar- 
ing that  his  (Mr.  C.'s)  intention  and  motive  was  to  destroy 
a  measure  for  which  he  professed  friendship  ? 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE  asked  the  gentleman  to  point  to  the 
occasion  when  he  made  such  a  remark. 

"  MR.  CUTTING  submitted  to  the  committee  that  the  whole 
tenor  and  scope  of  the  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Ken- 
tucky was  an  attack  upon  his  motives  in  moving  to  commit 
the  bill.  It  was  in  vain  for  the  gentleman  to  attempt  to 
escape  by  disclaiming  it  ;  the  fact  was  before  the  committee. 
But  he  would  say  to  the  gentleman  that  he  scorned  his  impu- 
tation. How  dare  the  gentleman  undertake  to  assert  that 
he  had  professed  friendship  for  the  measure,  with  a  view  to 
kill  it,  to  assassinate  it  by  sending  it  to  the  bottom  of  the 
calendar  ?  And  then,  when  he  said  that  the  committee  of 
the  whole  had  under  its  control  the  House  bill  upon  this 
identical  subject,  which  the  committee  intended  to  take  up, 
discuss,  amend,  and  report  to  the  House,  the  gentleman 
skulked  behind  the  Senate  bill,  which  had  been  sent  to  the 
foot  of  the  calendar  ! 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE. — I  ask  the  gentleman  to  withdraw 
that  last  word. 

"  MR.  CUTTING. — I  withdraw  nothing.  I  have  uttered 
what  I  have  said  in  answer  to  one  of  the  most  violent  and 
most  personal  attacks  that  has  ever  been  witnessed  upon  this 
floor. 


344  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE. — Then,  when  the  gentleman  says  I 
skulk,  he  says  what  is  false. 

"  THE  CHAIR. — The  gentleman  is  not  in  order. 

"  MR.  CUTTING. — I  do  not  intend  upon  this  floor  to  answer 
the  remark  which  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  has  thought 
proper  to  employ.  It  belongs  to  a  different  region.  It  is 
not  here  that  I  will  desecrate  my  lips  with  undertaking  to 
retort  in  that  manner. 

"  Mr.  C.  then  declared  that  in  moving  to  commit  the  bill, 
his  object  was  to  get  it  in  such  a  shape  as  would  be  satisfac- 
tory to  the  country,  and  put  at  rest  the  outcries  of  fanaticism 
which  now  prevailed  throughout  the  land. 

"  He  desired  peace  and  harmony,  and  would  suggest  to 
gentlemen  who  were  anxious  for  the  passage  of  the  bill,  that 
it  was  not  the  best  mode  of  accomplishing  then-  object  by 
assailing  those  who  proclaimed  themselves  favorable  to  its 
principles  and  its  great  cardinal  outlines.  It  seemed  to  him, 
if  gentlemen  desired  the  success  of  the  bill,  it  would  answer  a 
better  purpose  if  they  would  turn  their  batteries  upon  its 
enemies,  rather  than  attempt  to  destroy  those  who  were  its 
friends." 

The  result  was,  that  the  preliminaries  of  a  duel 
were  arranged,  but  fortunately,  by  the  interposition  of 
friends,  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  difficulty  was 
arrived  at. 

"When  Mr.  Pierce  was  in  power,  he  offered  Mr. 
Breckinridge  the  Spanish  mission,  but  he  refused  it. 
In  1856,  he  was  put  upon  the  Democratic  ticket  and 
elected  Yice-President  of  the  United  States. 

The  official  position  of  Mr.  Breckinridge  has  been 
such  as  to  render  his  position  on  some  of  the  present 
political  issues  somewhat  doubtful.  He  is,  of  course, 


JOHN   C.  BKECKINKIDGE.  345 

a  believer  in  the  old  Democratic  creed,  and  is  a  mod- 
erate supporter  of  the  South  and  her  institutions.  It 
was  generally  understood  at  Washington,  during  the 
Lecompton  struggle,  that  he  sided  with  the  President 
against  Mr.  Douglas — in  other  words,  was  in  favor  of 
the  bill.  He  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Mr.  Douglas 
in  1854,  and  his  great  measure,  the  Kansas  act.  In 
the  last  session  of  Congress,  Mr.  Breckinridge  gave 
his  casting  vote  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the 
Homestead  bill,  which  gives  an  indication  of  his 
hostility  to  the  measure.  He  is  a  very  fair  politician, 
of  unspotted  integrity  as  a  man,  and  is  possessed  of 
talents  of  high  order,  such  as  fit  him  to  occupy  with 
ability  any  office  within  the  gift  of  the  people. 


15* 


JOHN    C.    FREMONT. 

THE  leadership  of  Mr.  Fremont  in  a  Presidential 
campaign  has  doubtless  made  his  name  and  history 
familiar  to  all  intelligent  men,  but  the  fact  that  he  is 
a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1860, 
makes  it  proper  to  give  in  this  volume  an  outline 
sketch  of  his  life.  Aside  from  this,  such  men  as  Fre- 
mont, whether  Presidential  candidate  or  not,  whether 
President  or  not,  are  the  great,  daring,  characteristic, 
men  of  our  times,  and  their  deeds  should  always  be 
held  in  remembrance. 

Mr.  Fremont  is  a  native  of  Savannah,  Georgia, 
where  he  was  born,  June  21,  1813.  At  an  early  age 
he  entered  the  law  office  of  John  W.  Mitchell,  of 
Charleston,  where  he  gave  such  indications  of  talent, 
that  Mr.  Mitchell  bestowed  unusual  pains  upon  his 
education,  placing  him  under  the  care  of  an  excellent 
teacher,  Dr.  Robertson,  a  Scotch  gentleman,  who 
carried  him  through  the  classics.  At  the  age  of  sixteen, 
young  Fremont  was  confirmed  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church.  In  1833,  the  sloop-of-war  Natchez 
entered  the  port  of  Charleston  and  was  ordered  from 

846 


JOHN   C.  FREMONT.  347 

there  to  South  America.  Fremont,  just  twenty  years 
old,  got  the  situation  of  teacher  of  mathematics 
aboard  of  her,  and  made  a  cruise  of  two  and  a  half 
years.  Upon  his  return,  he  was  made  professor  of 
mathematics  and  appointed  to  the  frigate  Indepen- 
dence. He  afterward  made  one  of  a  corps  of  topo- 
graphical engineers  to  explore  a  route  of  a  railway 
from  Charleston  to  ^  Cincinnati.  It  was  here  that 
Fremont  got  his  first  experience  of  camp  life.  He 
went  next  to  the  Upper  Mississippi  on  a  similar 
undertaking. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Fremont  was  ordered  to  examine  the 
Desmoines  River,  in  Iowa — then  a  wilderness ;  and 
when  it  was  performed,  he  returned  to  marry  Jessie 
Benton,  the  young  daughter  of  Thomas  H.  Benton. 
The  next  year  he  projected  his  first  great  exploring 
expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  setting  out  from 
Washington,  May  2,  1842.  The  results  of  the  expe- 
dition were  great  and  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  Government  and  nation,  and  a  second  expedition 
was  ordered,  much  more  complete  in  preparation 
than  the  first.  The  party  left  Kansas  in  May,  1843, 
and  did  not  get  back  to  the  United  States  until 
August  of  1844.  The  tour  was  full  of  dangers  and 
thrilling  incidents,  and  the  results  were  still  more 
striking  than  those  of  the  first  expedition.  Col. 
Benton  sketched  the  expedition  in  a  few  eloquent 
words,  as  follows : 


34:8  PKESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATES. 

" '  The  Government  deserves  credit  for  the  zeal  with  which 
it  has  pursued  geographical  discovery.'  Such  is  the  remark 
which  a  leading  paper  made  upon  the  discoveries  of  Fremont, 
on  his  return  from  his  second  expedition  to  the  great  West; 
and  such  is  the  remark  which  all  writers  will  make  upon  all 
his  discoveries  who  write  history  from  public  documents  and 
outside  views.  "With  all  such  writers  the  expeditions  of 
Fremont  will  be  credited  to  the  zeal  of  the  Government  for 
the  promotion  of  science,  as  if  the  Government  under  which 
he  acted  had  conceived  and  planned  these  expeditions,  as  Mr. 
Jefferson  did  that  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  then  selected 
this  young  officer  to  carry  into  effect  the  instructions  deliv- 
ered to  him.  How  far  such  history  would  be  true  in  relation 
to  the  first  expedition,  which  terminated  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  has  been  seen  in  the  account  which  has  been 
given  of  the  origin  of  that  undertaking,  and  which  leaves 
the  Government  innocent  of  its  conception  ;  and,  therefore, 
not  entitled  to  the  credit  of  its  authorship,  but  only  to  the 
merit  of  permitting  it.  In  the  second,  and  greater  expe- 
dition, from  which  great  political  as  well  as  scientific 
results  have  flowed,  their  merit  is  still  less  ;  for,  while 
equally  innocent  of  its  conception,  they  were  not  equally 
passive  to  its  performance — countermanding  the  expedition 
after  it  had  begun — and  lavishing  censure  upon  the  adven- 
turous young  explorer  for  his  manner  of  undertaking  it. 
The  fact  was,  that  his  first  expedition  barely  finished,  Mr. 
Fremont  sought  and  obtained  orders  for  a  second  one,  and 
was  on  the  frontier  of  Missouri  with  his  command,  when 
orders  arrived  at  St.  Louis  to  stop  him,  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  made  a  military  equipment  which  the  peaceful  nature 
of  his  geographical  pursuit  did  not  require  !  as  if  Indians 
did  not  kill  and  rob  scientific  men  as  well  as  others,  if  not  in 
a  condition  tp  defend  themselves.  The  particular  point  of 
complaint  was  that  he  had  taken  a  small  mountain  howitzer, 


JOHN   C.  FREMONT.  349 

in  addition  to  his  rifles  ;  and  which,  he  was  informed,  was 
charged  to  him,  although  it  had  been  furnished  upon  a  regu- 
lar requisition  on  the  commandant  of  the  arsenal  at  St. 
Louis,  approved  by  the  commander  of  the  military  depart- 
ment (Colonel,  afterward  General  Kearney).  Mr.  Fremont 
had  left  St.  Louis,  and  was  at  the  frontier,  Mrs.  Fremont 
being  requested  to  examine  the  letters  that  came  after  him, 
and  forward  those  which  he  ought  to  receive.  She  read  the 
countermanding  orders  and  detained  them  !  and  Fremont 
knew  nothing  of  their  existence,  until  after  he  had  returned 
from  one  of  the  most  marvellous  and  eventful  expeditions  of 
modern  times — one  to  which  the  United  States  are  indebted 
(among  other  things)  for  the  present  ownership  of  Califor- 
nia, instead  of  seeing  it  a  British  possession.  The  writer  of 
this  view,  who  was  then  in  St.  Louis,  approved  of  the  course 
which  his  daughter  had  taken  (for  she  had  stopped  the  orders 
before  he  knew  it)  ;  and  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  department 
condemning  the  recall,  repulsing  the  reprimand  which  had 
been  lavished  upon  Fremont,  and  demanding  a  court  martial 
for  him  when  he  should  return.  The  Secretary  of  War  was 
then  Mr.  James  Madison  Porter,  of "  Pennsylvania  ;  the 
chief  of  the  topographical  corps  the  same  as  now  (Colonel 
Abert),  himself  an  office  man,  surrounded  by  West  Point 
officers,  to  whose  pursuit  of  easy  service,  Fremont's  adventur- 
ous expedition  was  a  reproach  ;  and  in  conformity  to  whose 
opinions  the  secretary  seemed  to  have  acted.  On  Fremont's 
return,  upward  of  a  year  afterward,  Mr.  William  Wilkins, 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  Secretary  of  War,  and  received  the 
young  explorer  with  all  honor  and  friendship,  and  obtained 
for  him  the  brevet  of  captain  from  President  Tyler.  And 
such  is  the  inside  view  of  this  piece  of  history — very  different 
from  what  documentary  evidence  would  make  it. 

"  To  complete  his  survey  across  the  continent,  on  the  line 
of  travel  between  the  State  of  Missouri  and  the  tide-water 
region  of  the  Columbia,  was  Fremont's  object  in  this  expedi- 


350  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

V 

tion  ;  and  it  was  all  that  he  had  obtained  orders  for  doing  ; 
but  only  a  small  part,  and  to  his  mind,  an  insignificant  part, 
of  what  he  proposed  doing.     People  had  been  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  before,  and  his  ambition  was  not  limited  to 
making  tracks  where  others  had  made  them  before  him. 
There  was  a  vast  region  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains — the 
whole  western  slope  of  our  continent — of  which  but  little 
was  known  ;  and  of  that  little,  nothing  with  the  accuracy  of 
science.     All  that  vast  region,  more  than  seven  hundred 
miles  square — equal  to  a  great  kingdom  in  Europe^— was  an 
unknown  land — a  sealed  book,  which  he  longed  to  open,  and 
to  read.     Leaving  the  frontier  of  Missouri  in  May,  1843, 
and  often  diverging  from  his  route  for  the  sake  of  expanding 
his  field  of  observation,  he  had  arrived  in  the  tide-water 
region  of  Columbia  in  the  month  of  November ;  and  had 
then  completed  the  whole  service  which  his  orders  embraced. 
He  might  then  have   returned  upon  his   tracks,  or  been 
brought  home  by  sea,  or  hunted  the  most  pleasant  path  for 
getting  back  ;  and  if  he  had  been  a  routine  officer,  satisfied 
with  fulfilling  an  order,  he  would  have  done  so.     Not  so  the 
young  explorer,  who  held  his  diploma  from  nature,  and  not 
from  the  United  States  Military  Academy.     He  was,  at  Fort 
Vancouver,  guest  of  the  hospitable  Dr.  McLaughlin,  Gov- 
ernor of   the   British  Hudson   Bay   Fur   Company ;    and 
obtained  from  him  all  possible  information  upon  his  intended 
line  of  return — faithfully  given,  but  which  proved  to  be  dis- 
astrously erroneous  in  its  leading  and  governing  feature.     A 
southeast  route,  to  cross  the  great  unknown  region  diagonally 
through  its  heart  (making  a  line  from  the  Lower  Columbia 
to  the  Upper  Colorado  of  the  Gulf  of  California),  was  his 
line  of  return  ;  twenty-five  men  (the  same  who  had  come 
with  him  from  the  United  States)  and  a  hundred  horses, 
were  his  equipment ;  and  the  commencement  of  winter  the 
time  of  starting — all  without  a  guide,  relying  upon  their 
guns  for  support ;  and,  in  the  last  resort,  upon  their  horses — 


JOHN   C.  FREMONT.  351 

such  as  should  give  out !  for  one  that  could  carry  a  man,  or 
a  pack,  could  not  be  spared  for  food. 

"  All  the  maps  up  to  that  time  had  shown  this  region  tra- 
versed from  east  to  west — from  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains to  the  bay  of  San  Francisco — by  a  great  river  called 
the  Buena  Ventura :  which  may  be  translated,  the  Good 
Chance.  Governor  McLaughlin  believed  in  the  existence  of 
this  river,  and  made  out  a  conjectural  manuscript  map  to 
show  its  place  and  course.  Fremont  believed  in  it,  and  his 
plan  was  to  reach  it  before  the  dead  of  winter,  and  then 
hibernate  upon  it.  As  a  great  river,  he  knew  that  it  must 
have  some  rich  bottoms,  covered  with  wood  and  grass,  where 
the  wild  animals  would  collect  and  shelter,  when  the  snows 
and  freezing  winds  drove  them  from  the  plains  :  and  with 
these  animals  to  live  on,  and  grass  for  the  horses,  and  wood 
for  tires,  he  expected  to  avoid  suffering,  if  not  to  enjoy  com- 
fort, during  his  solitary  sojourn  in  that  remote  and  profound 
wilderness. 

»  "  He  proceeded- — soon  encountered  deep  snows,  which 
impeded  progress  upon  the  highlands — descended  into  a  low 
country  to  the  left  (afterward  known  to  be  the  Great 
Basin,  from  which  no  water  issues  to  any  sea) — skirted  an 
enormous  chain  of  mountain  on  the  right,  luminous  with  the 
glittering  white  snow — saw  strange  Indians,  who  mostly  fled 
— found  a  desert — no  Buena  Ventura  ;  and  death  from  cold 
and  famine  staring  him  in  the  face.  The  failure  to  find  the 
river,  or  tidings  of  it,  and  the  possibility  of  its  existence 
seeming  to  be  forbid  by  the  structure  of  the  country,  and 
hibernation  in  the  inhospitable  desert  being  impossible,  and 
the  question  being  that  of  life  and  death,  some  new  plan  of 
conduct  became  indispensable.  His  celestial  observations 
told  him  that  he  was  in  the  latitude  of  the  bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  only  seventy  miles  from  it.  But  what  miles  !  up 
and  down  that  snowy  mountain  which  the  Indians  told  him 
no  men  could  cross  in  the  winter — which  would  have  snow 


352  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

upon  it  as  deep  as  the  trees,  and  places  where  people  would 
slip  off,  and  fall  half  a  mile  at  a  time  ; — a  fate  which  actually 
befell  a  mule,  packed  with  the  precious  burden  of  botanical 
specimens,  collected  along  a  travel  of  two  thousand  miles. 
No  reward  could  induce  an  Indian  to  become  a  guide  in  the 
perilous  adventure  of  crossing  this  mountain.  All  recoiled 
and  fled  from  the  adventure.  It  was  attempted  without  a 
guide — in  the  dead  of  winter — accomplished  in  forty  days — 
the  men  and  surviving  horses,  a  woeful  procession,  crawling 
along  one  by  one — skeleton  men  leading  skeleton  horses — 
and  arriving  at  Sutter's  Settlement  in  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Sacramento  ;  and  where  a  genial  warmth,  and  budding 
flowers,  and  trees  in  foliage,  the  grassy  ground,  and  flowing 
streams,  and  comfortable  food,  made  a  fairy  contrast  with 
the  famine  and  freezing  they  had  encountered,  and  the  lofty 
Sierra  Nevada  which  they  had  climbed.  Here  he  rested  and 
recruited  ;  and  from  this  point,  and  by  way  of  Monterey,  the 
first  tidings  were  heard  of  the  party  since  leaving  Fort 
Vancouver.  • 

"  Another  long  progress  to  the  south,  skirting  the  western 
base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  made  him  acquainted  with  the 
noble  valley  of  the  San  Joaquin,  counterpart  to  that  of  the 
Sacramento  ;  when  crossing  through  a  gap,  and  turning  to 
the  left,  he  skirted  the  Great  Basin  ;  and  by  many  deviations 
from  the  right  line  home,  levied  incessant  contributions  to 
science  from  expanded  lands,  not  described  before.  In  this 
eventful  exploration,  all  the  great  features  of  the  western 
slope  of  our  continent  were  brought  to  light — the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  the  Utah  Lake,  the  Little  Salt  Lake  ;  at  all 
which  places,  then  deserts,  the  Mormons  now  are;  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  then  solitary  in  the  snow,  now  crowded  with  Amer- 
icans, digging  gold  from  its  flanks  ;  the  beautiful  valleys  of 
the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin,  then  alive  with  wild  horses, 
elk,  deer,  and  wild  fowls,  now  smiling  with  American  culti- 
vation ,  the  Great  Basin  itself,  and  its  contents  ;  the  Three 


JOHN  C.  FREMONT.  353 

Parks  ;  the  approximation  of  the  great  rivers  which,  rising 
together  in  the  central  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  go 
off  east  and  west,  toward  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun — 
all  these,  and  other  strange  features  of  a  new  region,  more 
Asiatic  than  American,  were  brought  to  light  and  revealed 
to  public  view  in  the  results  of  this  exploration. 

"  Eleven  months  he  was  never  out  of  sight  of  snow  ;  and 
sometimes,  freezing  with  cold,  would  look  down  upon  a  sunny 
valley,  warm  with  genial  heat ;  sometimes,  panting  with  the 
summer's  heat,  would  look  up  at  the  eternal  snows  which 
crowned  the  neighboring  mountain.  But  it  was  not  then 
that  California  was  secured  to  the  Union — to  the  greatest 
power  of  the  new  world — to  which  it  of  right  belonged  ; 
but  it  was  the  first  step  toward  the  acquisition,  and  the  one 
that  led  to  it.  The  second  expedition  led  to  a  third,  just  in 
time  to  snatch  the  golden  California  from  the  hands  of  the 
British,  ready  to  clutch  it.  But  of  this  hereafter.  Fre- 
mont's second  expedition  was  now  over.  He  had  left  the 
United  States  a  fugitive  from  his  Government,  and  returned 
with  a  name  that  went  over  Europe  and  America,  and  with 
discoveries  bearing  fruit  which  the  civilized  world  is  now 
enjoying." 

In  1845,  the  third  expedition  of  Col.  Fremont  was 
made — principally  intended  to  explore  the  Great 
Basin  and  country  of  Oregon  and  California. 

"  He  approached  these  settlements  in  the  winter  of  1845-6. 
Aware  of  the  critical  state  of  affairs  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,  and  determined  to  give  no  cause  of 
offence  to  the  authorities  of  the  province,  with  commendable 
prudence  he  haulted  his  command  on  the  frontier,  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  Monterey,  and  proceeded  alone  to  that  city 
to  explain  the  object  of  his  coming  to  the  commandant  gene- 


354  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

ral,  Castro,  and  to  obtain  permission  to  go  to  the  valley  of 
the  San  Joaquin,  where  there  was  game  for  his  men  and 
grass  for  his  horses,  and  no  inhabitants  to  be  molested  by  his 
presence.  The  leave  was  granted  ;  but  scarcely  had  he 
reached  the  desired  spot  for  refreshment  and  repose,  before 
he  received  information  from  the  American  settlements,  and 
by  express  from  our  Consul  at  Monterey,  that  General  Castro 
was  preparing  to  attack  him  with  a  comparatively  large  force 
of  artillery,  cavalry  and  infantry,  upon  the  pretext  that, 
under  the  cover  of  a  scientific  mission,  he  was  exciting  the 
American  settlers  to  revolt.  In  view  of  this  danger  and  to 
be  in  a  condition  to  repel  an  attack,  he  then  took  a  position 
on  a  mountain  overlooking  Monterey,  at  a  distance  of  about 
thirty  miles,  intrenched  it,  raised  the  flag  of  the  United  States, 
and  with  his  own  men,  sixty-two  in  number,  awaited  the 
approach  of  the  commandant  general. 

"  From  the  7th  to  the  10th  of  March,  Colonel  Fremont 
and  his  little  band  maintained  this  position.  General  Castro 
did  not  approach  within  attacking  distance,  and  Colonel 
Fremont,  adhering  to  his  plan  of  avoiding  all  collision?,  and 
determined  neither  to  compromise  his  Government  nor  the 
American  settlers,  ready  to  join  him  at  all  hazards,  if  he  had 
been  attacked,  abandoned  his  position,  and  commenced  his 
march  for  Oregon,  intending  by  that  route  to  return  to  the 
United  States.  Deeming  all  danger  from  the  Mexicans  to 
be  past,  he  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  some  of  his  men  who 
desired  to  remain  in  the  country,  discharged  them  from 
his  service,  and  refused  to  receive  others  in  their  stead,  so 
cautious  was  he  to  avoid  doing  anything  which  would  com- 
promit  the  American  settlers  or  give  even  a  color  of  offence 
to  the  Mexican  authorities.  He  pursued  his  march  slowly 
and  leisurely,  as  the  state  of  his  men  and  horses  required, 
until  the  middle  of  May,  and  had  reached  the  northern  shore 
of  the  greater  Tlamath  Lake,  within  the  limits  of  the  Oregon 
territory,  when  he  found  his  further  progress  in  that  direc- 


JOHN  C.  FREMONT.  355 

tion  obstructed  by  impassable  snowy  mountains  and  hostile 
Indians,  who,  having  been  excited  against  him  by  General 
Castro,  had  killed  and  wounded  four  of  his  men,  and  left 
him  no  repose  either  in  camp  or  on  his  march.  At  the  same 
time,  information  reached  him  that  General  Castro,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  Indian  allies,  was  advancing  in  person  against  him 
with  artillery  and  cavalry,  at  the  head  of  four  or  five  hundred 
men  ;  that  they  were  passing  around  the  head  of  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco  to  a  rendezvous  on  the  north  side  of  it,  and  that 
the  American  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento  were 
comprehended  in  the  scheme  of  destruction  meditated  against 
his  own  party. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  he  determined  to  turn  upon 
his  Mexican  pursuers,  and  seek  safety  both  for  his  own  party 
and  the  American  settlers,  not  merely  in  the  defeat  of  Castro, 
but  in  the  total  overthrow  of  the  Mexican  authority  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  establishment  of  an  independent  government 
in  that  extensive  department.  It  was  on  the  6th  of  June, 
and  before  the  commencement  of  the  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  could  have  there  been  known,  that  this 
resolution  was  taken  ;  and,  by  the  5th  of  July,  it  was  car- 
ried into  effect  by  a  series  of  rapid  attacks,  by  a  small  body 
of  adventurous  men,  under  the  conduct  of  an  intrepid  leader, 
quick  to  perceive  and  able  to  direct  the  proper  measures  for 
accomplishing  such  a  daring  enterprise. 

*;  On  the  llth  of  June,  a  convoy  of  200  horses  for  Castro's 
camp,  with  an  officer  and  14  men,  were  surprised  and  cap- 
tured by  12  of  Fremont's  party.  On  the  15th,  at  daybreak, 
the  military  post  of  Sonoma  was  also  surprised  and  taken, 
with  nine  brass  cannon,  250  stand  of  muskets,  and  several 
officers  and  some  men  and  munitions  of  war. 

"  Leaving  a  small  garrison  at  Sonoma,  Colonel  Fremont 
went  to  the  Sacramento  to  rouse  the  American  settlers  ;  but 
scarcely  had  he  arrived  there,  when  an  express  reached  him 
from  the  garrison  at  Sonoma,  with  information  that  Castro's 


356  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

whole  force  was  crossing  the  bay  to  attack  that  place.  This 
intelligence  was  received  in  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  of  June, 
while  he  was  on  the  American  fork  of  the  Sacramento,  80 
miles  from  the  little  garrison  at  Sonoma  ;  and,  at  two  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  he  arrived  at  that  place  with  90 
riflemen  from  the  American  settlers  in  that  valley.  The 
enemy  had  not  yet  appeared.  Scouts  were  sent  out  to 
reconnoitre,  and  a  party  of  20  fell  in  with  a  squadron  of  70 
dragoons  (all  of  Castro's  force  which  had  crossed  the  bay), 
attacked  and  defeated  it,  killing  and  wounding  five,  without 
harm  to  themselves  ;  the  Mexican  commander,  De  la  Torre, 
barely  escaping  with  the  loss  of  his  transport  boats  and  nine 
pieces  of  brass  artillery,  spiked. 

"  The  country  north  of  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  being 
cleared  of  the  enemy,  Colonel  Fremont  returned  to  Sonoma 
on  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
5th,  called  the  people  together,  explained  to  them  the  condi- 
tion of  things  in  the  province,  and  recommended  an  immedi- 
ate declaration  of  independence.  The  declaration  was  made, 
and  he  was  selected  to  take  the  chief  direction  of  affairs. 

"  The  attack  on  Castro  was  the  next  object.  He  was  at 
Santa  Clara,  an  intrenched  post  on  the  upper  or  south  side 
of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  with  400  men  and  two  pieces 
of  field  artillery.  A  circuit  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
must  be  traversed. to  reach  him.  On  the  6th  of  July  the  pur- 
suit was  commenced,  by  a  body  of  160  mounted  riflemen, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Fremont  in  person,  who,  in  three 
days,  arrived  at  the  American  settlements  on  the  Rio  de  los 
Americanos.  Here  he  learnt  that  Castro  had  abandoned 
Santa  Clara,  and  was  retreating  south  toward  Ciudad  de  los 
Angeles  (the  city  of  the  Angels),  the  seat  of  the  Governor 
General  of  the  Californias,  and  distant  400  miles.  It  was 
instantly  resolved  on  to  pursue  him  to  that  place.  At  the 
moment  of  departure,  the  gratifying  intelligence  was  received 
that  war  with  Mexico  had  commenced  ;  that  Monterey  had 


JOHN   C.  FREMONT.  357 

been  taken  by  our  naval  force,  and  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  there  raised  on  the  7th  of  July  ;  and  that  the  fleet 
would  cooperate  in  the  pursuit  of  Castro  and  his  forces.  The 
flag  of  independence  was  hauled  down,  and  that  of  the  United 
States  hoisted,  amidst  the  hearty  greetings  and  to  the  great 
joy  of  the  American  settlers  and  the  forces  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Fremont. 

"  The  combined  pursuit  was  rapidly  continued  ;  and  on 
the  12th  of  August,  Commodore  Stockton  and  Colonel  Fre- 
mont, with  a  detachment  of  marines  from  the  squadron  and 
some  riflemen,  entered  the  City  of  the  Angels,  without 
resistance  or  objection  ;  the  Governor  General,  Pico,  the 
Commandant  General,  Castro,  and  all  the  Mexican  authori- 
ties, having  fled  and  dispersed.  Commodore  Stockton  took 
possession  of  the  whole  country  as  a  conquest  of  the  United 
States,  and  appointed  Colonel  Fremont  Governor,  under  the 
law  of  nations  ;  to  assume  the  functions  of  that  office  when 
he  should  return  to  the  squadron. 

"  Thus,  in  the  short  space  of  sixty  days  from  the  first  deci- 
sive movement,  this  conquest  was  achieved  by  a  small  body 
of  men,  to  an  extent  beyond  their  own  expectation  ;  for  the 
Mexican  authorities  proclaimed  it  a  conquest,  not  merely  of 
the  northern  part,  but  of  the  whole  province  of  the  Cali- 
fornias. 

"  The  Commandant  General,  Castro,  on  the  9th  of  August, 
from  his  camp  at  the  Mesa,  and  next  day  '  on  the  road  to 
Sonora,'  announced  this  result  to  the  people,  together  with 
the  actual  flight  and  dispersion  of  the  former  authorities  ; 
and  at  the  same  time,  he  officially  communicated  the  fact  of 
the  conquest  to  the  French,  English,  and  Spanish  Consuls  in 
California  ;  and  to  crown  the  whole,  the  official  paper  of  the 
Mexican  government,  on  the  16th  of  October,  in  laying 
these  official  communications  before  the  public,  introduced 
them  with  the  emphatic  declaration,  '  The  loss  of  the  Call- 
foruias  is  consummated.' 


358  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

"  The  whole  province  was  yielded  up  to  the  United  States,* 
and  is  now  in  our  military  occupancy.  A  small  part  of  the 
troops  sent  out  to  subject  this  province  will  constitute,  it  is 
presumed,  a  sufficient  force  to  retain  our  possession,  and  the 
remainder  will  be  disposable  for  other  objects  of  the  war." 

We  shall  not  stop  to  examine  the  Stockton  and 
the  Kearney  controversies,  the  Monroe  duel,  nor  the 
troubles  which  beset  the  gallant  explorer  and  officer. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  out  of  all  he  came  with  clean 
hands,  and  an  unspotted  reputation.  Though  a 
court  martial,  asked  for  by  himself,  sentenced  him  to 
be  dismissed  the  service  for  disobedience  of  orders,  or 
rather  for  not  selecting  the  proper  officer  in  California 
to  obey,  the  President  remitted  the  penalty.  Too 
proud  to  hold  an  office  in  any  army  of  any  nation 
under  such  circumstances,  Col.  Fremont  tendered 
his  resignation  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  in  the  United 
States  army. 

It  was  the  old  story  of  the  triumph  of  Red 
Tapism  and  dull  routine  over  genius  and  services  of 
transcendent  importance;  but,  however  Col.  Fre- 
mont might  fare  before  a  board  of  jealous  officers, 
the  people  took  his  cause  up,  and  make  him  a  hero. 
From  all  parts  of  the  land,  and  from  countries  over 
the  sea,  letters  of  congratulation  and  admiration  of 
his  scientific  explorations,  poured  in  upon  him. 

In  October,  1848,  Mr.  Fremont  set  out  upon  his 
fourth  trip  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  proved 


JOHN   C.  FBEMONT.  359 

to  be  the  most  dangerous  and  fearful  of  all.  Though 
120  mules  were  frozen  in  one  night,  and  some  of  his 
comrades  were  starved,  he  had  succeeded  in  reaching 
California.  The  trip  was  made  entirely  at  his  own 
expense,  but  its  results  were  given  in  the  journals  at 
the  time  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation. 

The  year  previous  to  his  fourth  Overland  Expedi- 
tion, Col.  Fremont  had,  for  $3,000,  bought  the  since 
famous  "Mariposa  Estate,"  which  will  eventually 
make  him  a  very  wealthy  man,  if  he  succeeds  in 
establishing  his  rfghts  in  California. 

In  1849,  General  Taylor  appointed  Fremont  Com- 
missioner to  run  the  boundary  line  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico ;  but  while  he  was  delibe- 
rating upon  an  acceptance  or  declination,  the  new 
legislature  of  California,  assembled  at  San  Jose, 
elected  him  United  States  Senator.  In  the  Senate 
his  course  was  distinguished  by  great  industry  and 
indefatigable  exertion  in  favor  of  his  constituents, 
and  it  was  much  regretted  by  those  who  knew  the 
youthful  senator,  that  he  chose  the  short  term,  so 
that  his  term  of  office  expired  in  March,  1851.  In 
the  Constitutional  Convention  in  California,  Col. 
Fremont  had  taken  a  very  decided  part  against 
slavery,  and  in  Congress  his  course  had  been  so 
unpartisan  that  he  lost  the  support  of  his  party, 
and  a  reelection  was  out  of  the  question.  His  sub- 
sequent history  is  known  to  every  man.  He  was 


360  PRESIDENTIAL   CANDIDATES. 

nominated  in  1856  by  the  Republican  party  as  its 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  polled  a  tremen- 
dous vote.  The  enthusiasm  in  his  favor  in  the  East 
and  the  Northwest,  was  intense,  and  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  nothing  but  the  intervention  of  a  third 
candidate — Mr.  Fillmore — prevented  his  election. 

Mr.  Fremont,  as  a  politician,  is  little  known  to  the 
country,  for  he  has  had  little  to  do  with  politics,  and 
is  uncorrupted.  He  is,  however,  known  to  favor,  first 
of  all  things,  a  Pacific  railroad,  is  opposed  to  lawless 
filibusterism,  and  thoroughly  in  favor  of  the  supre- 
macy of  free  labor  over  slave  labor.  He  unhesitat- 
ingly indorsed  the  Philadelphia  platform,  and  can 
always  be  relied  on  to  oppose  the  schemes  of  the 
slavery-propagandists. 

As  a  man.  Col.  Fremont  is  known  to  the  country 
to  be  fearless,  brave,  devoted  to  fulfilling  all  his 
duties,  and  ready  to  brave  the  frowns  of  millions,  if 
necessary,  in  redeeming  a  pledge.  Such  a  man  can 
be  trusted,  whether  in  or  out  of  office. 


THE  END. 


